The root of all evil or the gateway to a better life, whichever way you look at it, money has a profound effect on each and every one of our lives. It governs where you live, what you eat, who you sleep with, and how long you live. It's malicious fingers entwine in an iron-strong grasp around our hearts and minds. For me, and many others, money is prohibitive, my finances block so many options from my life, and those of countless millions of others. My home, London, is a city of haves and have-nots, the wealthiest financial centre in the western world, where one in three children live below the poverty line. The boundaries of this city are not marked by walls, but purse-strings. But still the question persists, who's really better off? Our mothers all taught us money can't buy happiness, but does such a childish simplification ring true?All the world over, the picturesque yields to the pocketesque.- Herman Melville
It seems to me that there are two types of people in this cracked and broken world, those who are hungry for money, and those who are greedy for it.Those who are hungry for money will have their fill when they are able to provide for themselves and their families adequately, to provide a good standard of living. These people have other desires besides collecting numbers on a screen. They love, and live, they have the ability to achieve happiness. These, in my eyes, are the normal people, the good and the meek. And in heaven, the meek shall have their reward. As a staunch atheist, I believe this heaven reveals itself through self-actualisation, love and contentment. Of course, within the hungry, many remain that way, and many are famished.
Clearly money has something to do with life....- Philip Larkin
The appetite of the greedy and gluttonous will never be satiated, they are eternally ravenous. These people often accrue huge amounts of the grubby stuff, but never give up, constantly chasing that little extra, often entirely needlessly, and at great expense to other aspects of their lives. This is an alien mindset for me, one that I struggle to understand immensely. It is a sad fact that this type of person controls most of the world's wealth, and are the least inclined to share it (with the exception of a few great philanthropists). These people can never be happy in the truest sense, for what they desire is forever just one more zero away.
Clearly, something has gone greatly askew with how we chose to run this world. Any world where one person can shovel cocaine up their nose on Daddy's luxury yacht whilst simultaneously another's child can starve to death is fundamentally broken at it's very core. But what alternative is there? Communism sounds good, but the uniforms are just so terribly drab. I don't pretend to have any answers here, but I know for certain that I wish there was a way to do away with the whole blasted concept, a world of fairness, free from greed and boundaries, where everyone has a decent chance at life. Unfortunately, until my move to Gumdrop Land is complete, I have to wade through this shitheap we've landed ourselves with just like the rest of the sorry pissy-footed masses.
An expansive life, one not constrained by four walls, requires as well an expansive pocket.- Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
I have no interest in money, I pay it very little attention. But, like the proverbial blue-smartie-fuelled toddler, the less attention I pay it, the more it demands. If I continue to ignore it, it ends up smashing the house up and soiling itself on the carpet. My current financial state can be described as somewhere between 'Fucking Shit' and 'Terminal'. My bank statements have no numbers on them, only sad-faces. I'm trapped by this status, imprisoned by my failure to earn. I yearn to eat well, to drink with abandon, to fuck with hellish vigour, to explore and expand my horizons. Without money, my wishes will never be realised. I have two choices, sell my soul at the altar of capital, or scrape by, living hand-to-mouth. Life ain't all it was cracked up to be.
Money then, it doesn't really make anyone happy. Whilst happiness can't be bought, freedom to pursue happiness can be, and after all, isn't that every man's right? To finish, I'll leave you with another pithy quote, that I feel sums up my position regarding money pretty well. Ta ta.
He who has many lice doesn’t scratch; he who has many debts doesn’t worry.- Anonymous
