The phrase, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer” is considered by many both a truism and an indictment of the free-market system. Typically, this statement is followed by a demand for some type of government controlled “redistribution of wealth” or “stealing from Peter to pay Paul.” Thomas Sowell argues that, in fact, the statistics actually argue the opposite, that the rich are getting poorer, and the poor are getting richer.

…income tax data recently released by the Internal Revenue Service seem to show the exact opposite: People in the bottom fifth of income-tax filers in 1996 had their incomes increase by 91 percent by 2005. The top one percent — “the rich” who are supposed to be monopolizing the money, according to the left — saw their incomes decline by a whopping 26 percent. Meanwhile, the average taxpayers’ real income increased by 24 percent between 1996 and 2005.

Why does this seem to contradict the normal statistics? These statistics (from the IRS) track individuals through time, where as most statistics about income distribution take a snapshot of the entire population at one time. When we look at the population in any given year, the income of the people in the lowest 20% might have grown less than then income of the people in the top 20% (this is often the case). However, the people who were in the bottom 20% in one year have often moved out of the bottom in another. In the same way, those in the top 20% often fall down out of the top position into a lower one. The truth is that most people are constantly increasing and decreasing their wealth, as they gain skills after years of work, or retire from it later on. In fact, as Mr. Sowell reports, in a University of Michigan study, over an 8 year period, half the people in the bottom twenty percent– those we think of as “the poor”– were not in that bracket the following year. Three percent of those in the bottom bracket one year were actually in the top bracket the following year.”

Hence, while the statistics in any one year tell one story, the statistics of individuals through time tell another.

Question - which is the more important story? That the overall statistics show an increasing gap between the lowest 20% and the highest 20%? Or that people often dramatically shift their relative income, moving in and out of poverty, the middle class, and the wealthy with regularity?

I think the answer is, “yes.” They are both important, and compliment each other. For Money, Mission, and Meaning listeners, the key is to notice that just because general statistics say one thing, your own path might look completely different. As the saying goes, “you don’t drown if you fall in the water. You only drown if you stay there.”

To learn more about the extraordinary mind and timeliness of Thomas Sowell, please enjoy how this clip from a 1980 lecture is still as timely today.

When a man with experience meets a man with money, the man with the experience will end up with the money, and the man with money will end up with “experience.” - Anonymous

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business. - Henry Ford

Dog eat Dog, Take no Prisoners, the Almighty Dollar…

We often think of business is a heartless endeavor, where the cunning and powerful exploit the naive and relatively powerless. It’s just business, the saying goes, and winner takes all.

But when we look at the day to day operations of the market, this type of win-lose activity is actually the minority of the business interactions.

In fact, it is the cooperation and coordination of talent and resources by people partnering towards a common cause that forms the heart of each industry and company. Certainly there is competition between companies vying to sell similar products to the same customer, or between people vying for the same promotion in a company, and in rare cases it can even get ruthless. However, it is the mutually beneficial, win-win relationships between suppliers, maufacturers, distributors, and retailers on the one hand, and investors, management, workers, and consumers on the other, that constitute the vast majority of business transactions.

“Business as usual” is in fact, a well-oiled machine of interdependence and partnership.

This is nowhere more clear than when the cooperation of business as usual ceases, and antagonism and conflict set in. When the oil of interpersonal generosity is replaced by the sand of anger and resentment, the gears grind to a halt, and everyone suffers. Companies drain their resources in lawsuits, departments lose productivity for infighting, the consumer gets poor service and higher prices, and the emotional environment becomes toxic.

To succeed in business and bring mission and meaning to our work, we must be able to resolve these conflicts when they happen, and more importantly, avoid them in the first place. Individually, we do this through better communcation and mutual understanding. As managers and enterpenuers, we do this through the skills of mediation.

Mediation is the art of assisting parties in conflict to find mutually agreeable solutions. It is creating a conversation in which the people involved feel heard and respected, and know that their values are included in the decision making process. Rather than person A sacrificing themselves to person B, or insisting that person B sacrifice themselves to person A, the mediator faciliates an agreement that addresses both persons’ values.

I had the great fortune to interveiw Johnnie Scott, a mediator and corporate trainer specializing in work related issues, especially discrimination on the basis of age, sex, and race. Join us in a 2-part episode, as we explore, not only how you can apply the practical skills of mediation and peace-making to your own situation, but be inspired by the personal and spiritual context that makes mediation an expression of purpose for this extraordinary man.

http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/money-mission-meaning/episode004-johnnie-scott-mediation.html