"...this system can be leveraged to our benefit..."

Man oh man, I sure wish I had a clue how to do that. My best guess is that digital ID and AI social credit score management will be used to starve us into submission, and preparing to be immune to deprivation of centralized supplies is the course of action I am taking.

"...people hate greed. I do not hate anyone. At one point, every person on Wall Street was a beautiful child."

Brilliant insight that is completely accurate per my understanding.

"I believe in God because I believe the devil exists."

That's a hard road.

"I probably would have let the world devour me and I think I would have enjoyed it."

I have often been grateful for my poverty, because I certainly would have fallen into excess that would have destroyed me had I had money to do so. It has taken a lifetime of experience for me to attain to the discipline to decline hedonism.

"...sometimes the world gives us a bike without a seat."

That's a very keen observation, and made me LOL.

"This little girl could get nothing for Christmas and she would still have everything she needs."

Very true. That demonstrates that goodwill is truly valuable, while money is overvalued.

"Thank you for asking me to tell a personal story."

I am glad you did. I didn't understand what you meant when you said we have different beliefs, but I do much better now. I was raised on an island in Alaska, and you were raised playing in the streets of the city. You had parents that instilled moral values. My father once told me 'You have food in your belly, a shirt on your back, and a roof over your head. My job is done.' The closest thing to moral guidance I can remember him providing was when he told me to keep my pecker in my pants until I was married, but that was when I was 17 and the opportunity was long past. I had to learn right from wrong by doing. My actions had consequences that I - very painfully - learned from. I remember my father punched me so hard I smashed right through a door because at 14 I'd been adopted by the dancers at a local strip club as a sort of mascot, and was always drunk when I managed to come home. Maybe that was moral guidance. Once my mother held me down while my father kicked me in the head, and I was overcome by the urge to kill him in blind rage. After I got up and put him on the ground I couldn't think at all. All I knew was my rage, like an animal with it's leg caught in a trap. It felt like something remote controlled me when I just turned and walked away.

Maybe that was God.

When I was young I thought the city was paradise, and I yearned to get off the island and live in the luxury and cultural exuberance of LA, New York, or Tokyo. When I finally got to LA I didn't even stop for gas. I just kept driving. Never been back, and never want to.

I have had the best Christmas in living memory, despite almost none of the material trappings. I put up a branch a few days ago ripped from a tree by a storm, with one ornament that ended up in my truck a couple years ago when I was throwing some stuff away. It is the happiness of the child and the remarkable discussion here that has made my Christmas so wonderful. You have been integral to that blessing and I am deeply grateful for it.