Consider the cost

This picture has caused some interesting discussions.

Note the picture to the right.  This is a very interesting thought provoking picture.  As mentioned in another article while Jobs has done some good in this world, there's some question as to the celebrity culture surrounding famous people like him.

However, that's not the purpose of this article.  This weekend (October 14th through the 16th), the iPhone 4s by Apple has been released.

There are estimates that over 4 million of these will be sold just this weekend alone.  That's a pretty impressive amount.  People were camping outside of Apple stores all over the country from the night before just so they could be first in line to get one when the stores opened.  I overheard on the radio on my drive to work on Friday (the 14th) how there were some people who were using their iPhone 4 to film their entrance into the store where they obtained their iPhone 4s.

Think about that.  They already have an iPhone 4 and they were going to buy the latest and greatest gadget.  This got me thinking.  How much money is getting spent this weekend on this latest incarnation of the iPhone?

So, I looked up online on the Apple store and checked the prices.  According to the site, this model of iPhone sells from anywhere from $199 to $399 before tax.  Before sales tax, shipping, apps, add-ons, cases, etc., this means that, if the estimates are correct, people will be spending anywhere from $796 million to $1.596 BILLION this weekend alone simply on this latest gadget.  To give you a sense of scale, the US government spend nearly twice that per day.

Meanwhile, we have people in this country protesting about the lack of jobs, about the lack of justice for the poor, about the greed in the corporations in our country.  This is one gadget.  I don't know what the statistics are for other smart phones being sold on a daily basis.  Or what the statistics are for the amount of money spent downloading apps, songs, videos, movies, etc.  And yet we point fingers at the big corporations OR big government as somehow being the cause of all this mess.  Perhaps they are.  But let's consider this cost from a different perspective.

• According to Answers.com, in the US today, a family of four will spend on average $100-$200 a week on groceries.
• For my modest home in semi-rural, small town US, mortgage rates run between $600 to $800 a month.  I'm sure that low-cost housing, when it comes to rent, probably runs similar if not less.
• Filling a 12 gallon tank of gas once a week at an average price of $3.40 a gallon, is $163.20 dollarrs a month.

These are just a few little items just from our American culture.  Depending upon what standard of living a family is looking at, these costs go up and down.  Now, what happens if the wage earners in those families lose their jobs?

See, here's the problem with all this protesting about the economy.  We look at these big corporations, these high-profile people, we look at the government and the institutions of our society and place all sorts of blame and responsibility on them for either causing the problems or for being greedy and unjust with their wealth.  

What would happen if, instead of having to have the latest and greatest gadget, instead of spending almost $400 for a new gizmo that we don't really need, we look down the street to the family struggling to make ends meet and buy them a weeks worth of groceries?  What would happen if we gave that $700 we were saving up for the plasma screen TV and paid someone's mortgage for a month while they look for work?  What would happen if we bought $20 WalMart Jeans and used the other $50 we would have spent at the Gap to pay for a tank of gas for a friend so they can drive to the unemployment office?

And I haven't even done the research yet on the cost of helping someone overseas... but consider that, through Compassion International you can sponsor a child for no more than $50 a month.  That's six children per iPhone.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm a techno-geek and my first reaction of seeing the latest technology is "OOOOO! It's SHINEY!"  But then I stop and consider... do I NEED it?  My life is distracted enough already.  Do I need to add to that distraction with one more cool item?  Or is there something more important I should be spending my time and money on?

How about this:  How about instead of looking outside of ourselves for injustice, instead of looking for some sort of scapegoat for greed, instead of vilifying faceless organizations, institutions, and corporations... how about we turn that extreme, angry, frustrated criticism around to ourselves and really take a look.  There is something to be said about communal sin and community responsibility for justice.  But communities are made up of people.  If the people are not, on their own, living and striving for justice, why would we expect the communities to do so?

So, where should our mourning be?  Should we be mourning for a man, great as he was?  Or should we be mourning our own greed and materialistic fervor?  And it's VERY easy to point fingers to others and point out their faults... but I look around my house... I'm typing this on a laptop I bought for over $800.  My home PC that I'm listening to David Crowder Band's "How He Loves Us" cost us also about $1000.  My satellite TV is costing us about $60 a month.  Our cell phones, cheap as they are, are $70 a month.  Do I NEED any of this stuff?  I can spend a lot of time pointing out the faults and greed of others but I'd better be ready to explain my own actions.

So, next time we think its time to protest the government, or wall street, or the local mega-corporation, or millionaire/billionaire, etc... stop and think.  How much have YOU done to fix the problem?

"Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'  “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’  “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:41-46 NIV