money

Commons
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Who is the individual who you believe has the most evolved, or grown up, relationship to money or wealth? Or alternatively, what is a statement on money that you believe reflects the most mature approach to money?
I am asking these questions to get myself to reflect on this, as much as anyone else.

Here is a statement that I have come up with, kind of a personal mission statement for money:

  1. To be utterly grateful for each dollar that comes in.
  2. To be accurately mindful of the benefit of each $ spent or invested.
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I always liked Stuart Brand’s book on the The Seven Laws of Money, which I read several times because I thought it was an elegant and interesting presentation.

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Wealth is not only about money. Wealth is when a person can use freely the imagination and enjoy and share the fruits of labor. Unearned wealth, as Gandhi said, is a crime.

I have a hard time with discussions about money that are not responsive to how you earned the money. When success is measured by how much money a person makes we are probably doomed to extinction pretty soon. Money making divorced from such concerns contributes to the disconnect of Mind and Nature. This schism will bring forth a sense of paranoia, which is rampant among most people of my acquaintance, regardless of how much money they make. People with lots of money often have the most distorted relationships.

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Thanks for the feedback both of you. Geoffrey, I saw that you had been involved in multidisciplinary research, so wanted you to be aware of Ubiquity University. John, I love this definition: “Wealth is when a person can use freely the imagination and enjoy and share the fruits of labor”.

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I think money is one of our biggest cultural taboos. We’re not supposed to know (it’s forever obscured) where it comes from, where it goes, how we each get ours, and what we do with it—it is supposed to be a private matter, like sex, but much more taboo, I believe!

Principles of sufficiency, reciprocity, and balance are important, in my view—but there’s something to be said for having enough money to do big things. (I believe this has to do with one’s network—all money is pooled resources.)

Most money, on big or small things, is wasted, of course.

At the same time, it’s said (and I believe) that money follows vision. So I would ask, IF you even had the money you desired, what would you do with it? How would you use it well?

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I have thought about this long and hard. As a researcher, I have had access, over the course of my career, to various monies both large and small to carry out work that I proposed, and developed, with a view to benefiting the larger community. However, within the university system, there are constraints on what kinds of projects you can fund, and I have found some of these constraints frustrating at times.

I have never hankered for money for myself to “spoil myself”, I was always interested in money to fund creative activities that might not take place without funds. Although, I have to say, that since I re-organized my career around my own creative output about ten to fifteen years ago, while I might not always have had the funds to do the work I wanted to do, my own happiness has soared. So it is clear that happiness and money are not necessarily correlated - there were periods of my life where I was much less happy than I am today. On the other hand, I am reasonably well off compared to many, so I need to be careful what I say in this regard.

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A great question, I want to reflect more on that and come up with something specific.

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I have only ever worked for a salary for 19 years in my 73 years of life - three as a secondary school teacher and sixteen as university lecturer. I’m single, never married. My parents left me no property and $500 between them. One other benefactor gave me a substantial gift towards helping my sister to find housing - which I’ve done. One other friend helped me purchase a house (next to hers) with a view to creating a ‘commune’ or at least ‘a community’. I now own two houses freehold, have an adequate superannuation benefit and qualify for a partial government pension. I’ve never spent so freely as now - with all the years of being in unpaid (though with basic living provision) voluntary work behind me. I keep wondering how I can dispense with the $ as they pile up - because I can live much more simply. I use them for leisure and luxuries (and kind of feel I’ve earned these!). I’m always conscious of how much I don’t contribute to those less well off than myself. I find I’m able to give more liberally than ever, but give so little all told.

So, yes, Durwin, I’m grateful and mindful! And I don’t mind being public about where I stand in the scale of things, Marco - though it’s easier in a forum like this than in day to day relating face to face.

I have a friend who takes us back in conversation quite frequently to a ‘money-less’ economy. We can’t go back, but your invitation to reflect on this question is most welcome. Thank you.

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