economicmultipliers_6

Economic Multipliers (6)

Do you know what these are?

They help CREATE wealth in systems.

Ask yourself: Do YOU create wealth within systems?

You've probably never thought about it before but people can be negative economic multipliers – ON PURPOSE!

They may be the person driving by, a neighbor or someone you work for. They may be the person who makes a change in a system so they can benefit but then messes everyone and everything else up.

If you want to identify whether you are (or have ever been) a negative economic multiplier, ask yourself these things:

• • Have I ever done anything (ON PURPOSE) to physically harm another individual?

  • Have I ever damaged property (ON PURPOSE)? Interestingly enough, it really doesn't matter whether it was your property or someone else's because it would be a loss of wealth within the whole system.

  • Have I ever done anything to make it harder for a person to learn or achieve (ON PURPOSE)?

  • Have I ever made any kind of work or any part of life harder for anyone else (ON PURPOSE)?

  • Have I ever lied about another person (ON PURPOSE) in a way which would damage them or their reputation?

  • Have I ever taken something that belonged to someone else (ON PURPOSE)? Some people have 'better use' justifications when they do things like this. In most (ALL?) countries in the world this is called theft. The founding fathers of the United States did not believe the nation could survive if people did not respect other people's property rights and obey laws. First and foremost they worried about this and they got lucky: on the whole, everyone agreed with them. They knew that if everyone thought they could steal (even if they only thought they were doing so to play Robin Hood), chaos and anarchy would ultimately ensue. If you look around the world, you might notice that some of the poorest nations (and communities) have the highest rates of theft and, I would say as a result, the greatest instability in their political systems and public institutions.

  • Do I do things to myself (ON PURPOSE) that are destructive in ways where other people would have MORE work as a result of my actions (drinking, drugs, overeating, etc.).

Now, you'll notice that there is a common thread among these questions – the ON PURPOSE part. I will be the first to say that I can be very 'sharp' with my words sometimes (I try always to reserve them for the person I believe they belong to) and never intend to harm people (ON PURPOSE). But neither do I believe that when people harm me, that harm should go unanswered.

What I've always found odd though is why, when people do something they know they shouldn't be doing, they think YOU are the problem when you say that they shouldn't be doing it or shouldn't have done it.

Appreciate, I myself am FAR from a perfect person. But it is possible for me to say that I've never gotten up in the morning and intended to do harm to myself or anyone else (ON PURPOSE).

If you want to be a positive economic multiplier, don't DO negative things (ON PURPOSE).

The only real way for societies to HAVE positive economic multipliers is for people first and foremost themselves to BE positive economic multipliers.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

P.S. I was always a bit of a 'social misfit' and in my youth (and perhaps even now) had poorer communication skills than many (writing excluded). As a result, I don't have many people over the years that I have called friends and many of those individuals have slipped away because I didn't know how to 'cultivate' longterm friendships. When your interests are as 'unusual' as mine (for most women), people can't really relate to you and on the whole, you can't really relate to them.

But, I can say (and I would encourage EVERY young person to think about this as they are deciding WHO and WHAT they want to grow into as they grow older): BE A POSITIVE ECONOMIC MULTIPLIER. Then, even if you don't have a lot of close friends, YOU will be a person WORTH KNOWING. And RECOGNIZE that although people are many times enamored by wealth or fame or intelligence, YOU should be enamored by people who are positive economic multipliers. THOSE are the people WORTH KNOWING.

THOSE are:

• • the people you want to call your friends

  • the people you want to date and ultimately think about marrying

  • the people you'd want to work with

  • the people you'd want to meet on the street as you went for a walk

We would live in a MUCH better world if everyone strived to be a positive economic multiplier.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

There is a question related to people as negative economic multipliers that belongs on the list but is not an ON PURPOSE item: It relates to any individual's core character. I'm including it here and then I'll explain why this is important in any economic system.

• • Do I find it enjoyable to watch people who are in pain or going through painful events?

People pursue the things they find enjoyable. When people are SO interested in observing the pain and problems of others (and actively take the time to do so – the reality show mentality), they are not taking time to create positive economic multipliers. So, although they might be able to say that THEY THEMSELVES are not the source of any problems, not only are they not doing anything useful, they are literally standing on the sidelines and acting as a cheering squad for all the bad things that could happen in the world.

If you NEED to be part of a cheering squad, make sure you're cheering for the right team.