Acharya Prashant explains that nature, such as a rose shining majestically or animals leaping and playing beautifully, exists without earning anything or going to work. In contrast, man is repeatedly told that without a career, he will die of starvation. He points out that animals like rabbits, lions, and elephants do not die of starvation for not wearing a tie and going to offices. In fact, they are healthy, live their full natural lives, and do not suffer from heart attacks, AIDS, cancer, or depression, unless they are in contact with human beings. They don't pursue MBAs or have bank accounts, yet they are happy. The speaker contrasts the happy faces of flowers with the sad faces of humans, noting that it is rare to find a joyful man but equally rare to find a sad flower. A man in a large car might still be sobbing because his neighbor's car is bigger or a corporate honcho has a private jet. The speaker asserts that poverty is not given by existence but by society. Even if absolute poverty is eradicated, relative poverty will always exist because it is the nature of our culture, education, and conditioning. He illustrates this with the example of poor children begging in front of a temple that may have cost crores to build, questioning the shortage of money and where it goes. Poverty, he states, is the companion of riches; there cannot be riches unless there is poverty. He uses the corporate structure as an example, where shareholders, CEOs, managers, and workers exist in a hierarchy. The workers receive a minuscule share of the profits, while the shareholders get a disproportionately large share. As the firm progresses, the shareholders progress more, and the poverty of the workers deepens. This creates an artificial poverty where the rising wealth of some makes things unaffordable for others, trapping the most vulnerable in a cycle of begging. This system may feed stomachs but will never feed souls.
