It's all relative

Well, tonight Paris Hilton will appear at the much talked about New Year Eve party in Sydney. I'm not sure what disturbs me the most, the amount she is being paid to appear at the party, or the shallow entertainment news reports of her visit, anticipating how the night will unfold.

But the news item that seems to have caught the public eye this past 24 hours is Paris' $5000 spending spree on clothes in Melbourne yesterday. It was significant enough to attract comment from Tim Costello on how else that money could be spent. Many people say 'get over it, it's her money let her do what she likes'. Yet it's that attitude exactly that keeps the world stuck in this impoverished cycle of the rich who continue to be out of touch and acknowledge no real responsibility towards the poor whose choices are limited to basic survival.

You might say, 'well it's all relative', $5000 is nothing to a rich girl like Paris, but for someone whose income is less than $5000 a year and has to feed and look after a family, it's everything. So Paris' excuse is, she already does her fair share of charity work, but I say it's obviously not enough while people are still homeless, starving and dying preventable deaths from disease.

This is where community living back in the days of the newly established nation of Israel had great benefit for all. Those who earned more gave more and in theory, no-one was in need. It's called the equal distribution of wealth. Call me an idealist, but I don't think we are going to see poverty become history in our lifetime while we continue to idolize selfish brats with too much money than they know what to do with.

I heard Tim Costello comment on the world financial crisis recently and he said it's not a financial crisis, it's an ethical crisis. I agree. The greed of the greedy reached tipping point and this is the result of too many people trying to make an easy buck. Seriously we need to ask ourselves, whether we are investors, consumers, developers, whatever...are the financial choices I make ethical choices. For the everyday consumer go to www.ethical.org and test it out. When you invest or make a purchase are you asking yourself the right questions like, how does my choice affect the person at the other end of the line? The producer, the grower, the maker. My wife Verity has written a song in response to this ethical consumerism dilemma. Visit her website www.verityskye.com and if the song isn't already added, ask her to add it. It's powerful.

In response to Paris Hilton's spending spree Tim Costello reminded people that $5000 would be enough to help sustain an entire village! Verity and I support a slum community in Bangkok through UNOH. In the new year we are extending our financial focus to supporting communities in Africa. For the past few of years we've been making conscious ethical and fairtrade choices about every product we buy. We don't earn millions of dollars but we know we reside comfortably in within the richest 10% of people in the world. Our wealth can be distributed and help so many if only we are willing. It's all relative I guess.

It's not about 'doing our bit for charity', so I can sneak through life without a guilty conscience. it's about having a heart for the suffering people of our world and believing against all the odds and negativity that I too can contribute what I can to make a difference so that all the people of the world may enjoy life, not just me. Verity and I and both our families got a real buzz out of giving all kinds of gifts to each other from TEAR, Wolrd Vision, Oxfam and COCOA this year knowing that our gift was a life changing gift for someone in an impoverished community. I bought my Nana a card from Oxfam that had this title on the front, 'More power to granny'. My gift helps financially resource a group of indigenous Australian women elders provide support, education and encouragement to the indigenous youth so they might learn their customs and language and become future leaders in Australia.

This new year forget the self indulgent new years resolutions, make a commitment to change the world. You'll feel so much better for it and make a difference at the same time.

Shalom
Mark