Stuart Wilde Q&A: Money

Buddy, Can You Spare A Dime?

Q: If people ask you for money, should you give it to them, and why?

A: In my book The Force, I suggest giving people the things they ask for. However, I've found myself getting into a lot of trouble with this over the years because I didn't mean you had to give your whole life away. What I meant was, if somebody asks to borrow the lawnmower, lend it to them. In other words, don't be a tight ass — be open, loving, and free, and share your abundance.

When people ask you for money, what they're really asking for is energy, and they shouldn't do it because we're each responsible for generating our own energy. I must say I don't like lending people money. I've found that when you do so, eight times out of ten that's the last you see of them and the money. What you have to do is either say no, or just give them the money. Then there is no energy around 'who owes whom'.

Generally speaking, I think it's good to be open and to share. However, if somebody comes along and they want your trousers, you don't have to take them off and walk around in your underwear. There is a natural balance between being generous and not allowing people to use you.

Q: If you are a generous person and allow your money to flow, is it then okay to ask other people for money if you hit a rough patch?

A: Yes, I don't think it is a problem asking people for money if you hit a rough patch. The important thing is you're not going to make other people responsible for your energy.

One of the big problems in Western societies is that somehow people are becoming convinced that somebody else owes them a living, medical care, and welfare — "I'm a single mother, I'm entitled to a free home and money," "I'm a divorced father," "I'm unemployed." Of course, metaphysically speaking, that isn't correct. There is definitely a place for charity and kindness, but the idea that you can just underwrite someone's energy forever is absolute rubbish metaphysically, and it creates a warped, somewhat sick society.

I lay the blame for the disease of our societies partly on television and partly on the idea that, because you are a citizen, you are automatically owed enough energy to sustain yourself. When there is no call for you to sustain the energy yourself, the ego kicks back and becomes self-indulgent and lazy. Our societies suffer enormously from the projections of these characteristics.

Asking for money is fine if you need to, as long as you give it back when you're in the flow and don't make a habit of it. In the end, you have to believe in yourself and create your own energy.

Do something for yourself every day, something compassionate and kind. I don’t mean buying yourself breakfast; I mean doing something that is spiritually or physically nurturing: a massage, a fast, a meditation, exercise, rest, play – that kind of thing. For it’s in the quiet time that you’ll see the great abundance of this life, and you’ll move from the ego’s disquiet to the spirit’s wholeness, and you’ll see that the things you worry about are often not worth the worry.

Debt and Welfare

Q: It seems to me that you are against the welfare state, but surely we need a system that provides for the weaker members of society.

A: We do need a system that provides for people, but we don’t need the current system. Debt is one of the mechanisms used by big business and government to control ordinary people. Welfare is a form of debt. Let me explain. When a recipient gets his or her benefit check, they don’t have to pay the money back, so they are under the illusion that they don’t owe anyone. But in reality they have incurred a debt on an energy level; they’ve gotten something for nothing.

The entire universe is designed around some very simple laws relating to energy and how it is generated, conserved, or used. Some say God designed those laws; others say it had to be that way in order for this universe to exist. Whatever your view, the laws that govern energy are natural and symmetric, and they are equally applicable on our planet as they are in a galaxy two billion light years away. Now, you can use emotion, ego, politics, big business, power, greed, and control trips to ternporarily bend those universal rules, but in the end, the natural law is bigger than the manipulators and their ability to bend circumstances.

The first law of thermodynamics underwrites the whole universe, and it requires the conservation of energy, or more precisely, the sum of mass and energy is conserved. In other words there is no “free lunch” in the natural law. The government borrows money to sustain the welfare state, and in the end there will be an implosion of energy to correct the imbalance.

The sort of welfare state we need is one that assists the weak and helpless, and empowers the able-bodied. If every able-bodied person that receives money from the government was suddenly cut off, the taxpayers could easily afford and sustain those that are really in need. Over the years, however, the system has encouraged everyone to expect payment for simply existing. The natural laws will not allow this state to exist forever. An electron can borrow energy for a split second to move to a higher orbit, but an instant later it has to pay it back and return (decay) to its natural state — the state that it can sustain with its own natural energy. Our societies will have to make the correction, for we are allowing the ego to let us oscillate at a higher level on borrowed energy. The current system based on ego, politics, and illusion is, in fact, unnatural, and it will have to adjust or mayhem will ensue.

Wilde About Abundance

Q: If someone in a store undercharges you without realising it, is it best to own up, or thank the universe for delivering more abundance?

A: If someone undercharges you and you notice it, pay them the right amount, especially if you agreed upon the price. If the assistant gives you more change than you’re entitled to and you notice it, then it’s only honourable and decent to give that money back. I think it’s very important to be honourable, correct, and honest in your dealings with people. Then again, if you’re walking down the street and find $1,000 on the ground and it doesn’t belong to anybody in particular, then it’s yours.

Q: In the eyes of the universe, is it dishonourable not to pay back money you owe?

A: In the universality of Spirit, there is no high or low, good or bad, honest or dishonest. However, in one’s own personal morality, there has to be. So, if you borrow money from people, you are entitled to pay it back, especially if you have consumed it personally. If you lose money that you borrowed for a business venture and all parties agreed to the risk, then you don’t have to pay it back. If you borrow $5,000 from a group of people who are offering capital to start a fruit store and the store falters, well, that’s just a commercial risk. It depends on the terms and conditions under which you have taken the money in the first place.

Q: Do you think there will ever come a time when world economies collapse and paper money is worthless?

A: Yes, definitely, in fact, it’s actually happening as we speak, because the paper money of the major trading nations is decreasing in value with every year that passes. The total amount of government debt is rising, with America leading the way. So, there will be a time when paper tender will become worthless and a new paper currency will be created. Of course, at that point you will need to be in gold or assets if you don’t want to lose everything.

Q: What do you feel are the most sound investments to make in the coming years?

A: I've become very confused as to what a sound investment is. I’ve been watching the stock markets climb into the stratosphere and beyond any expectations that I had. I’m not keen on stocks and shares anymore because, although they keep rising, they have to fall eventually. I think sound investments will be small real estate holdings with a few acres of land in rural areas that are nice and safe and a long way from urban cities. That’s my idea of a sound investment. In the past I’ve never been keen on real estate, but I’ve changed my mind now.