New Consciousness Review December, 2014 | Page 33

OUR WORLD REVIEW Poor How the Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class by John Hope Bryant J ohn Hope Bryant observes that life is about aspiration and opportunity, but that without opportunity you lose hope; and the most dangerous person in the world is a person without hope. Although this observation focused on the poor and disenfranchised in America’s inner cities and in rural America, the statements can equally apply around the world. We have become acutely aware of the enormous divide between the top10% of the world’s population that owns 86% of its wealth, and the almost 50% of the population living in poverty. Poverty is not limited to one ethnic group nor to inner cities; it cuts across all demographics and there are more poor whites than any other group. We have begun to demand accountability from a financial and corporate system whose only objective is to generate more and more profits for the few, because this model is unsustainable, is already imploding and will only get worse. The cycle of poverty is enforced and perpetuated by a broken system where money and credit have fled to the suburbs, and loan sharks fill the vacuum; industry has decamped abroad and the only income options to escape the ghetto appear to young people to be sports, music, or dealing drugs. Positive role models and mentors are few and far between. On the bright side, Bryant points out that the intelligence and an entrepreneurial spirit that are 33 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW now directed into gangs and criminal activities, are available to be channeled into positive directions. Having been a successful entrepreneur, he is on a mission to provide a framework to enable the poor to climb up the ladder to a sustainable middle class that is good for them and good for the country. He also points out that wealth is as much a subjective state of the spirit as it is a r eflection of income. That is why giving people hope and dignity are the highest priorities. He has built an infrastructure of educational programs to teach financial literacy; brought branches of financial institutions back to the inner-cities to enable residents to rejoin the US economy; and he has provided crowd-funding forums wherein young people are exposed to entrepreneurial thinking and given access to mentors to support them in starting their own small businesses. One could argue that it takes a recognized leader and entrepreneur like Bryant to attract high profile partners and manifest such a structure for real change, and the many thousands of lives he has improved already are extremely encouraging. One can only hope, however, that the example he has provided will serve as a template and beta test for rolling out across the country, as he hopes. Hope is indeed his middle name. Review by Miriam Knight