Respect for the Nerds

Have you ever sat down and pondered why rock stars and sport stars earn more money than people who really make a difference?

Have you ever seen Nike sponsor a firefighter? Or Coca-Cola do a world tour with a teacher who inspires the highest passing grade in their country?

Of course not! and why? because we were taught and we BELIEVED that SEX SELLS!

And along with this belief came a few more - sexy sells, sexy bodies, sexy voices, sexy style - who cares if its hollow and does nothing to develop the growth of your soul? SEX SELLS and that's all we need to care about - right?

There's no importance placed on the credibility of the person, their values or self sacrifice. Nobody cares that the next president will win based on a popularity vote rather than his / her ability to actually lead!

Would you love your child more if they were beautiful, or encourage them to give up school to spend more time in the gym?

You could make a real difference keeping your child focused on their health, their wisdom and their own amazing talents.

Imagine for a second that you are a small child and you are taught that being the best version of yourself was important enough?

That geniuses who change the world with their technology breakthroughs, or environmentalists who save the planet from ruined water supply, polluted air and hunger are the REAL heroes....what would your world look like now?

Imagine if our children headed out with confidence to find their happy space - if more of us were farmers, geologists, scientists working on cleaning up the air, water and soil pollution?

Have you ever seen a famous geologist on television?

What good will it do to put rock-stars and sport-stars and now even worse, the "modern celebrity" who is famous just for being famous, all on a pedestal and throw money at them when we are all starving or dying from disease?

How much good will printed moey be when it cannot buy us peace of mind, health and a full belly?

We have allowed ourselves to believe that beautiful people have more value than clever people, or creative people. We have paid more money and attention to people who reinforce this belief and do nothing really to add value to our lives and the richness of our human experience.

I have a personal theory that many of us are starting to understand this theory now - which is why Hollywood is full of "zombie apocalypse" style movies....the playing fields are leveled and the survivors are not wealthy or famous, just ordinary people who think on their feet and use their survival skills.

On a subconscious level, we know the world cannot continue on its current trajectory. People need real people, real icons to guide them into a real world...not the fake hazy world of super stardom!

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were the first real famous nerds and they have made a massive difference to our technology, but only because they had a consumer platform to introduce them to celebrity status.

Steve Jobs' wealth was estimated by Forbes to be net wealth at $8.3 billion in 2010, making him the 42nd-wealthiest American - he had the sense of mind to share some of that wealth with the less fortunate with the Product Red organisation fronted by Bono, aiding those affected by AIDS, and putting energy and money into finding a cure for this debilitating disease http://www.red.org/en/

A large portion of his wealth will naturally go to his family who will hopefully continue this philanthropic approach to humanity.

Bill Gates is to date the richest man in the world, and has donated over $28 billion dollars to his own foundation and has created a pledge with other billionaires to share their wealth with the common man - why? because he realises that in order for him to stay wealthy, his consumers need to be too! What good is the best cellphone if the average man cannot feed his family or put his children through school?

Rock - stars and Sports Stars have been around an awful lot longer than Genius Stars - yet it is the first time in history such a foundation exists to spread wealth into the world. No human being can spend that amount of money in their life times...the irony is, the more he gives away, the wealthier Bill Gates will become!

We are now the generation of "help me's" - looking for social grants and support to fight our every growing poverty, hunger and internal strife.

Would that still be the case if more of us had a stable home, real, organic, healthy food and sufficient resources?

I'm not suggesting that the we should "rob the rich" I'm simply stating that having a generation divided into people with more money than they know what to do with, and people who don't eat every day is ludicrous...and its because we gave our respect to the sexy, rather than the nerd.

The time has come to look for a new way. A way to live and share and succeed. A life in which the respect and money flows to people who deserve it.

Sacred Economics is one man's view of how we could work differently and attach real value to real, life enhancing people and circumstances.

We don't need one more scantily clad model, or another rock band, although they each play a role in our entertainment and creative expression...what the world needs is to give power and respect to the nerds, the people who will truly shape our future, our world, our economics and our self empowerment.