In the comments thread about my post on Trinity United Church, Bruce Siegel pointed out that Oprah Winfrey has endorsed Barack Obama. He found this significant because, he said, "Oprah, in my view, is one of the most spiritually evolved, intelligent, compassionate, people on the planet."
I responded that Winfrey "has made a lot of money, but commercial savvy does not necessarily equal spiritual mastery (to put it mildly)."
Bruce replied, "Nor does it disqualify her in the least, as you seem to be implying."
This got me thinking. Can making a huge amount of money be compatible with spiritual advancement?
I’m inclined to say no.
Now, when I say a huge amount of money, I’m not talking about earning a decent living or even doing pretty darn well for yourself. I’m talking about amassing an enormous fortune – in the hundreds of millions of dollars, or even in the billions of dollars. (Winfrey’s net worth was reported as at least one billion dollars in 2007.)
Although I think capitalism (with appropriate oversight and a social safety net) is the best of the available economic systems, I still wonder if anyone can accumulate this kind of cash and remain spiritually healthy. Remember that great fortunes don’t create themselves. It takes an incredible amount of work over a long period of time to build up a billion-dollar portfolio. It requires total dedication to the task of making money, relentless pursuit of profit, and ruthless determination to squeeze an extra percent or two of gain out of every transaction. One must be a stern taskmaster, a workaholic, and a driven, Type-A personality.
Are these qualities consistent with spiritual seeking?
In my own, admittedly limited exposure to movers and shakers – the type of people who earn large fortunes – I’ve noticed the following characteristics:
A hard-charging, perfectionistic personality, intolerant of weakness or failure in themselves or others.
Almost superhuman competitive drive, which impels them to win every contest and not just beat but crush and humiliate every rival.
Disdain for subordinates, less successful competitors, nonplayers in the business world – basically anyone who is not playing and winning at their level.
Total immersion in daily activity, which consists of an unending round of meetings, phone calls, and video conferences, with little or no quiet time (quiet time equals wasted time, in their minds).
A social Darwinist streak that rationalizes their success and the wealth gap between themselves and most other people.
Arrogance bordering on hubris – the expectation that every order will be instantly obeyed, every wish carried out; fury and indignation at any delay, disagreement, or obstacle.
A rapacious desire for more – more money, more real estate, more deals, more acquisitions – not necessarily for the sake of having these things, but in order to prove capable of getting them; their self-worth appears to be measured by their success at winning high-stakes games, and the winnings are valued mainly as proof of their supreme competence.
And finally, in the men at least, a rather odd conflation of business acumen with sexual power – the sense that as Masters of the Universe they are continually proving their virility. Sexual metaphors of the locker-room sort are commonplace, and unsuccessful competitors are dismissed as unmasculine or sexually maladroit.
Now, I’m not saying that everyone who builds up a huge personal fortune necessarily matches this description. There may be exceptions that test the rule. But as a thumbnail description of the personality of an individual who becomes mega-rich, I think the above list of features is more likely to be accurate than not.
I remember reading an account of Michael Jordan, who crafted an image as a mild-mannered, kid-friendly superstar while garnering hundreds of millions of dollars in endorsements. The journalist who wrote the piece pointed out that this image was a complete fabrication. The real Jordan was not mild-mannered or laid-back; he was a compulsive competitor who became enraged when he lost any contest, even a golf game among friends. The real Jordan, the journalist wrote, was not the father figure who traded quips with Bugs Bunny, but the guy who won a championship game with a deciding basket at the last second and then made a circuit of the arena, his face twisted in a fierce, snarling rictus of angry triumph.
I’m not saying this to put down Jordan, a classy player of supreme talent. I just think we sometimes overlook what it takes to be a super-achiever. I suspect that almost anyone could become a multimillionaire, given a reasonably open economy and a fanatical, all-consuming will to succeed. Most people lack the will and are content with ordinary achievements (which is by no means a bad thing – in fact, I think it is rather admirable). A few people, however, cannot stand being relegated to the ranks of the ordinary, the common, and so they push themselves and everyone around them, they crack the whip, they work impossible hours, they drive their staffs to exhaustion, they alienate friends and family members, they refuse to accept defeat under any circumstances, and they succeed.
But having done all this, can they still have time to listen to the still, small voice that guides us to higher spiritual understanding? I very much doubt it. That voice was probably drowned out long ago by the incessant chirp of their cell phone, the buzz of their pager, the assistant reminding them about the next appointment and the next, and the never-ending mental calculations devoted to preserving status and maximizing gain, not to mention the entourage of yes-men and hangers-on who attach themselves to the successful.
In short, to attain a certain exalted level of success, one must become a predator – hungry, impatient, restless, ravenous. And predators, it seems to me, are not the most promising candidates for spiritual growth.
I could be wrong. But my guess is that Jesus had some idea of what he was talking about when he said what he said about the rich man and the eye of the needle.