Barbarians, Stewards and The Example

So, I had a question from one of my coaching groups on 'Charity' and I thought it was worth sharing more widely. It's something a lot of people wonder about. The question was on the importance of charity, of giving 10% of your earnings to charity, of giving to street beggars etc. and of working out how to help people less fortunate than ourselves.

I used to come right out and tell people what I thought. That didn't tend to go down too well.

So, what I do now is tell this parable, and let people work out for themselves what my position on charity might be...

My favourite way of looking at things is this:

Imagine that life is a banquet, a feast with enough food for everyone, an infinite buffet.

People tend to fall into one of 3 categories:

1. The Barbarians

The first group see the enormous banquet and grab as much as they can for themselves. They don't care about anybody else. They stuff their faces. They fight to take as much as they possibly can. They are low in consciousness and their behaviour is sub-human. They are interested in nothing else but the moment. This group is animal: 'the strongest get the most food and the weakest wait their turn; we only think of ourselves'

2. The Stewards

The second group see that there is plenty of food at the table but they see that the barbarians are helping themselves to it. They worry that there won't be enough for everyone, for the timid, for the weak, for the unaware, so they start 'organising' the banquet. They come up with rules, and systems to distribute the food fairly. They legislate to punish the barbarians and they create organisations to administer the buffet to everyone, fairly, equally, so that all can be fed adequately. This group is human: 'the fortunate can look after the less fortunate, we can work together to solve the world's problems'

3. The Example

The third group see the actions of the Barbarians and the Stewards and chuckle to themselves. If the banquet truly is infinite, then it cannot be divided. There is no need to worry about those who are taking too much, we can all have what we want.

So, the example eat whatever they want, and urge everyone else to do the same. This group is advanced: 'we are the example, we show people what to do'

So, the 2 questions you need to ask yourself are:

1. Which group do I want to be in?

2. Which group am I in now?

If there is no difference in your answers, then congratulations. If there is a difference, then you can do something about it. If you want to. It's up to you.

Finally, it's important to remember that this is not the truth. It just might, however, be a helpful way to look at things.

As we tell our students at Cambridge Leadership College:

Don't listen to me. Don't listen to anyone. Do your own thinking.