The Way We Handle Money is a Funny Thing

By Aanchal Mogla

It boggles my mind that every year, NBA players get paid $10 million on average, a single actor can make $92 million, and a CEO can earn up to $102 million.

It boggles my mind that every day, millions of people spend up to $5 a day for one coffee. Hollywood producers dish out $240 million to make one movie and a wealthy businessman can afford to buy a $974 million house.

Media networks give away millions of dollars for people to publicly humiliate themselves, while the NFL spends $3.9 billion on player salaries alone. The US government spends $683 billion on military expenditures and an overall $3.3 trillion for the Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan wars.

Despite this recession, everyone around us seems to have this overflowing amount of disposable income.

Yet, not one of these people seem to be able to spare a comparable amount to help those in need in other parts of the world.

Yes, governments do say they contribute a significant amount of foreign aid spending but where exactly does that money go? Often not to where it really needs to be. The US government gives a large portion of their budget to countries that are first of all not considered developing and they also conveniently import some of the highest amounts of US weapons.

We live in a time consumed by self-absorption--where we act only in our best interests. We fail to recognize that it is out duty to sustain our environment and that our selfish actions have dire consequences on those around us. Our constant need for more leads us to exploit those nations who are struggling to stay alive. We exploit them for their land, resources and cheap labour. And what do these nations get in return? Droughts, famines and life-threatening diseases.

How do we make up for the trouble we put them through? Dedicate less than 2% of our bottom line towards helping them, because instead the rest is going into senior executives' pockets just so they can be sure to keep up their mortgage payments on the fifth house in the Bahamas.

And then we wonder why our economies are in such a bad state.

Funny, ain't it?

Aanchal Mogla is a 4th-year International Business student at Wilfred Laurier University who is passionate about social responsibility and sustainability. She is new to the writing world, but definitely has a lot to say.