I.
Self-Reliance, Prosperity, Wealth, and Control
A.
Self-Reliance Principles
1.
Introduction
Over the last several years, the Church has developed, and
just launched, a major initiative to help African members become
self-reliant. To help members become
self-reliant, the Church has recently released a new highly interactive program
outlined in five short booklets.[1] This push is not surprising given the
pervasiveness of poverty throughout much of Africa and the fact that many
members struggle to make ends meet.
Members are constantly under pressure to provide the basic needs for
their families--often parents and children do not have enough to eat, lack
basic shelter, do not have money for school fees; and, as a consequence, members
frequently look to the Church, government agencies and charitable groups for
aid to bridge the tough times. The
reasons for these situations are complex, defying easy explanations, and may
differ from family to family and from country to country; yet at the core many
of the problems are attributable in part to one or more of following macro-level
factors: the lack of employment opportunities generating sufficient levels of
income; the decimation of basic family units—traditionally the source of family
security—owing to high mortality rates, births of children outside of the bonds
of marriage, and intertribal warfare and ethnic cleansing; the reliance of
local, regional or, in some cases, national economies upon subsistence farming
and the low and erratic yields from such farming practices due to poor crop
rotation, lack of access to commercial seeds, fertilizers and weed control
products, weather conditions, and other factors; and, the existence of a
culture of dependence among the poor and underprivileged.
The crowning importance of “self-reliance” as a core
principle of the restored gospel is tied, in part, to other related principles:
(i)
The importance of personal independence--not
being reliant upon others for one’s well-being;
(iii)
The obligation of parents to provide the basic
necessities for their children—food, shelter, security and educational
opportunities;[3]
(iv)
The responsibility of families to take care of their
own in the event of unexpected setbacks and emergencies;
(v)
The need to wean members from a feeling of “dependence”
upon others or “entitlement” that may have grown up over time due to prior
aid;[4] and
(vi)
The stewardship each has to manage what the Lord
has blessed him with for the benefit of his own family and others.[5]
Christ was clear about our duty to attend to the needs of
the poor and needy—we are to feed them, clothe them, and provide shelter—and
our salvation is dependent, in part, upon our generosity in doing so.[6] The need for such charity is not new, since
the poor have been, and always will be, with us.[7] No doubt how we respond to the challenges of
the poor is certainly a measure of our humanity and charity—in one sense, it is
more about us than it is about the poor.
Are we willing to give of our time and means to help others not of our
blood and flesh? We are commanded to be
charitable and generous—to love one another—and not to turn away another in
need—even if their needs are of their own making.[8] Moreover, we are not excused of that just
because the Church itself, through its welfare program, may provide temporary
assistance.[9] We should never think of the Church’s
welfare as satisfying our own obligation of charity.
2.
What is self-reliance?
Sister Julie B. Beck, the Church General Relief Society
President, defines “self-reliance” as follows:
“Self-reliance means using all of our blessings from Heaven Father to
care for ourselves and our families and to find solutions for our own
problems.”[10] She further states: “Work is a foundational principle of
self-reliance.” Using this definition
(or others that may be similar), we can think of “self-reliance” as having the
following defining characteristics:
(i)
First, being “self-reliant” means accepting, first
and foremost, “personal responsibility” for taking care of the well-being of
ourselves and our families and for seeking solutions to the problems we do face
in life and not looking to others to provide for such care or such solutions. In today’s society, the phrase “accepting
responsibility” is so commonly employed and bandied about by athletes,
politicians, corporate executives, as to have cheapened its import. “Accepting responsibility,” when truly felt,
is a genuine, heart-felt expression that one, and not someone else, is “responsible”
for some conduct. If things don’t go
right, the one responsible is “responsible” for the mistakes—i.e., takes the blame,
“responsible” for making necessary reparations, and “responsible” for finding
solutions. Neither blame, nor the obligation
to recompense, nor the responsibility for finding for solutions is shifted to
another. It is impossible to have real
“self-reliance” in place, until one has internalized the belief that he
ultimately accountable for his own affairs.
That attitude is at the heart of “self-reliance,” and drives everything
else—the desire to be prepared to “be” self-reliant; the drive to find
“solutions” to one’s problems when they invariably arise; and, the commitment
to use personal resources to provide for one’s own well-being rather than to
use those of other people.
When we
speak of “well-being” in the context of self-reliance, we generally have in
mind “material” well-being—i.e., the satisfaction of basic human needs. The concept of “self-reliance” must, of
necessity, include the belief of “being responsible” for finding solutions to
problems. Life is not static; the needs
of the family are constantly changing; circumstances not anticipated will
arise. If one is “self-reliant,” one is
committed to finding, on one’s own, likely through new investments, solutions
to future problems.
(ii)
Second, those who have internalized the desire
to be “self-reliant” discharge that sense of personal responsibility by
assembling and developing both internal and external resources to allow one to
care for oneself and one’s family. It
takes time to develop suitable resources.
Hence, those who are
“self-reliant” are constantly in the process of developing, refining and
finding new resources to address the needs of the family. It goes without saying that the needs of a
family today are not the same as the needs of a family in five, ten or twenty
years. The urge to be “independent”
requires constant adjustments in one’s plan.
The reason for assembling appropriate resources is to allow the family
to be “independent,” a primary goal of “self-reliance.” “Internal resources” are those resources
that we develop within ourselves—experience, training, skills and talents,
together with outward evidence of those accomplishments, such as educational
degrees, business experience, diplomas, certificates, public awards and
recognitions, and the like. “External resources”
are those resources that we assemble, mostly tangible in form, that can be used
by us, usually with little if any consent from others, to provide for the well-being
of ourselves and families. Common
examples of external assets include property, cash, investments, insurance
policies, food storage, or other material possessions convertible into liquid
assets or useable to address basic needs of life.
(iii)
Third, “self-reliance”
requires that the “available” resources (internal and external) actually be
applied to provide for ourselves rather than asking or allowing others to
provide resources to care of us.
Two of the three defining characteristics of “self-reliance”
are under our control. We control our
attitude—whether we feel “responsible” or “accountable” for ourselves, or
whether we are prepared to let others take care of us. Second, we control whether we “use” available
resources for our care.
What may be less under our control is both the “development”
of resources and whether developed resources are in fact available when
needed. For example, in an instant, the
resources upon which we rely to support our self-reliance (whether “internal”
or “external” resources) can be damaged, lost or compromised or diminished in
value, leaving us “dependent” upon others when we thought we had done all one
could reasonably do to be “independent.”
Men and women can have strokes,
depriving them suddenly of their mental capacities; property can be damaged,
destroyed or stolen; changes in the stock markets can, in a day, dramatically
reduce the value of one’s investment portfolio. Some of such changes may be due to events
over which we have no control—health, the agency of others, macro-economic
events—while others may be attributable to our bad or ill-advised
decisions. What one must keep in mind
is that of “prudence.” Life has
unavoidable uncertainties, and even the most carefully designed hedging
strategies may prove inadequate. There
is only so much any of us can do to keep at bay certain misfortunes, accidents,
events, and calamities. All that is
expected of us is to act “prudently.”
[1]
The booklets are entitled “My Path to Self Reliance,” “My Foundation:
Principles, Skills, Habits;” “My Job Search;” “Education for Better Work;” and
“Starting and Growing My Business.”
[2]
See, for example, Gen: 3: 19. “In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it wast thou taken: for duty thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Mormons
certainly think of “work” as praiseworthy and valuable, even if, owing to one’s
financial wealth, one did not need to “work” to provide for one’s family.
[3]
See Mosiah 4: 14. “And ye will not
suffer your children that they should go hungry, or naked; neither will ye
suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with
another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil
spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.”
[4]
See “Aid Dependence and Feelings of Entitlement,” supra.
[5] Men should use the resources with which they
have been blessed to bless the lives of others. See “_______________.”
[6]
See “__________________________.”
[7]
See John 12: 7-8. “Then said Jesus, Let
he alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always he have with you:; but
me ye have not always.”
[8]
See James 2: 14-18 and Mosiah 4:14-20. See also the discussion under “_____________________.”
[9]
See the discussion under “_____________________.”
[10]
See Julie B. Beck, “The Welfare Responsibilities of the Relief Society
President,” Basic Principles of Welfare and Self Reliance, (2009), 4-6.
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