We cannot end poverty - society would not allow it because without poverty, society cannot have wealth.  Communism and socialism operated on the premise of an equal, single-class society.  Those societies failed in at least two ways: corruption rose to the top in a small, but powerful upper class and the vast majority were equal alright - equally poor.  Democratic societies fought many battles to subdue socialism and protect democratic opportunities to rise from poverty to wealth and back again.  Societies want poverty, because it is the necessity of wealth.

And a poverty gap? Has the gap increased in the past 20 years? Sure.  Is this fair? Sure.  The gap has increased because of a simple principle.  A person will earn money based on:

• How many people they serve
• How well they serve them
• How hard they are to replace

I used to joke that back in my consulting hay days of $135/hr that I actually made more money ‘per person’ than Michael Jordan.  Yet, he made about a billion dollars more.  Why?

First, he served, I don’t know, a few million people!  He served them better - yes, he liked his job and I hated mine.  (Clients/fans are not fools - they know who wants to be there and who is waiting on the next train.)  He was harder to replace.  Business consultants outnumber professional athletes, probably 100,000 to 1 and he was an elite athlete.  So, voila.  I made more per person and had less to show for it.  Simple economics.

So why the increase in the poverty gap? Why have the rich become richer at a faster pace than the middle class?

Revolution.  Technology affords us the ability to serve many, many more people and many times, serve them better.  And those that get a jump on technologies power are not easily replaced.  This happens with every technology revolution.  In the Industrial Age in the U.S. we had the Carnegies, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and many others.  In today’s Information Age, we have the Gates, Buffetts and Dells.

Data shock: Would you be surprised to know that for all of the poverty gap created and wealth generated today, the first-comers, John Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt remain the 2 wealthiest people in American History, far ahead of #31 Bill Gates and #39 Warren Buffett?  If you thought Bill Gates, the current richest person in the world, is something, what would you think of Mr. Rockefeller who had 8 times more buying power than Mr. Gates?

How do you and I move across the bridge of poverty?  Follow the principles of LifeMAPP: find what you do best based on your personality, passions and experiences.  You will enjoy it and that means you will serve people well.  Learn to be the best in your local area.  Find ways to serve more people - either by moving into or up the management chain or by expanding your business into new markets  So, if you want to adjust the poverty gap, get yourself free first and start moving across the bridge.  You and I can both move a bit farther across the gap.

And how do we help society as a whole? We need to educate and give to those without - we need to give them the opportunities to fail and succeed.  As you cross the bridge, take a few people with you - that is leadership.  Give them opportunities if you can.  Teach them about opportunity and democracy.  Shun the idea that failure is avoidable or that failure is a scarlet letter to be warn as a public badge of shame.  Show them the importance of learning from failures to achieve success for no measurable success was ever achieved without first experiencing failure.

Influence those around you - leadership is influence.  That’s how you and I can shift the poverty gap.  We will not end poverty - society won’t let us.  We can only stir the waters to make sure that the American dream - that dream that still holds the world captive - is alive and well.  Dream on!