Money is not Wealth
Money is a way of measuring wealth but is not wealth in itself. A chest of gold coins or a fat wallet of bills is of no use whatsoever to a wrecked sailor alone on a raft. He needs real wealth, in the form of a fishing rod, a compass, an outboard motor with gas, and a female companion. But this ingrained and archaic confusion of money with wealth is now the main reason we are not going ahead full tilt with the development of our technological genius for the production of more than adequate food, clothing, housing, and utilities for every person on earth.
It is not going to be at all easy to explain this to the world at large, because mankind has existed for perhaps one million years with relative material scarcity, and it is now roughly a mere one hundred years since the beginning of the industrial revolution. As it was once very difficult to persuade people that the earth is round and that it is in orbit around the sun, or to make it clear that the universe exists in a curved space-time continuum, it may be just as hard to get it through to “common sense” that the virtues of making and saving money are obsolete.
It is an oversimplification to say that this is the result of business valuing profit rather than product, for no one should be expected to do business without the incentive of profit. The actual trouble is that profit is identified entirely with money, as distinct from the real profit of living with dignity and elegance in beautiful surroundings.
To try to correct this irresponsibility by passing laws would be wide of the point, for most of the law has as little relation to life as money to wealth. On the contrary, problems of this kind are aggravated rather than solved by the paperwork of politics and law. What is necessary is at once simpler and more difficult: only that financiers, bankers, and stockholders must turn themselves into real people and ask themselves exactly what they want out of life — in the realization that this strictly practical and hard–nosed question might lead to far more delightful styles of living than those they now pursue. Quite simply and literally, they must come to their senses — for their own personal profit and pleasure.
What does wealth mean to you? Can you share a personal experience of a time when you understood the "real profit of living with dignity and elegance in beautiful surroundings"? What do you want out of your life?
True wealth in my own view is a deep connection to all beings and all things. It cannot and should not be purchased. It is obtained and not bought. It is given freely and not sold. True currency is our connection to people that value the same things. It is an agreement that says I will be there with what I have and who I am to assist you in whatever you need. If I cannot do this then hopefully I have a connection to someone who can. It means we have to value our relationships more than we value our money. Because if money is the only thing that binds us, we will be lost to each other when the money is gone.
Thank you for sharing the reading of the week with me. Before I went to bed last night, I set this as my morning (first thing after I wake up) reading. Of course we've heard it before - Money is not wealth. But just like many other things we hear, we read and it gets lost in the myriad of other real meaningful things that we should know and practice in order to leave a truly wealthy life. Today I shall carry this thought with me everywhere I go, keep it with me while I meet everyone that I do today. And at night I am going to reflect on it again.
But yes, just like the sailor, Ive found myself "poor" at times when what I really want is to be around family and all I am surrounded by are four empty walls. The photo frames and the art work will do nothing in making me feel better even though they add to my wealth or esthetics of my room.
Thank you all for taking the time to read my reflection. Have a great day.,
I like it except, the part where Alan write that a man needs a woman companion... that's pretty limiting and assumptive on his part... might it have been more inclusive to write "a person needs love". Namaste.
Although we need money to live, we cannot let it be the sole focus point in our lives. Rather strive to live from the heart, show that you care, give some your time/love/laugh because it doesn't cost anything. When someone dies, no money in the world can bring him back or fill that empty space.
How lovely all the shares I have read....I feel wealthy because I am alive. May I always appreciate the grace of being alive. So many are not fortunate to feel alive, healthy, free. Free to be me. Money is a protection of sorts. Faith and a trust that goes beyond material assets is the sweetness of a child's love and appreciation of waking up to a new day. This is wealth! Being aware of the moment and thankfully grateful ... This too is wealth!
Financially, wealth means having a lot of money. Other than financially, wealth means 'having' or being in love, peace, and good health. Dignity is a sense of self worth, recognizing and honoring that one is an expression of the Divine. Elegance is to live true to my truth and to behave and carry myself as such. Beautiful surroundings means a healthy natural world, which we take care of because it is us, it is beautiful, and it too is sacred. I've come to realize that the real profit or wealth in life is living with that kind of dignity and elegance in an environmentally healthy world. What I want out of my life is to abide in dignity and elegance in the beautiful surroundings of a healthy world, and for my children and all others to do the same. I and we have a long way to go.
To me. economics and our skewed understanding of it is at the heart of our challenges....we have locked up value, as well as our capacity to create it by attaching a 'price' to it, while, in fact, it is the most human thing to give and create value for others, and enjoy the process....
WIth gift economy, parallel currencies and generosity, this system can be hacked! :)
