I get such a kick out of the articles on MSN Money headlines. Everyone’s an expert and knows exactly what’s going to happen next. There are the whackos on one end who say we have returned to the glory days of yore because the stock market posted a 7 point gain. Then there are the whackos on the other end who are warning the inevitable collapse of the dollar in exactly 10 minutes, so you better stock up on your ammunition and canned goods. Some of the articles are actually pretty good I have to admit, so I’m not beating up on MSN Money. Hey, I’m probably their biggest fan.
Our money media culture does make me wonder though why we give economic indicators such power. This morning I saw an article about how thankfully housing values were beginning to inch back up. Now the purpose of this post is not to argue whether this is true or not, but to explore why we feel the need to measure our assets in money only. Money does have its place but what if we all began to have a shift in focus and begin to equally, if not more, measure our wealth in other ways as well.
Wealth is really just agreement. Society agrees something has value and most of us fall in lock step behind and agree to it as well. Did you ever stop and wonder why people pay such outrageous sums for diamonds? Who says diamonds are valuable? We do! Who says that a certain actor or athlete warrants a seven figure income? Again, we do! It’s all agreement. What if we could all start adding other items to our wealth lists? There’s health, family, friends, nature, etc…and of course anything else that you personally value. We don’t have to be slaves to everything our culture has decided is worth something. I have two of the most excellent feline companions and a very wise turtle. I would not trade a single one of them for a house, car, jewel, etc…I challenge you to come up with a list of what you value and what brings real wealth to your life. I bet you will find your real wealth is quite different from what you’ve been conditioned to think is valuable.
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The Wealth Agreement
September 24th, 2009 . Posted in CommentaryNo Comments »Tags: agreement, economy, media, money, society
I get such a kick out of the articles on MSN Money headlines. Everyone’s an expert and knows exactly what’s going to happen next. There are the whackos on one end who say we have returned to the glory days of yore because the stock market posted a 7 point gain. Then there are the whackos on the other end who are warning the inevitable collapse of the dollar in exactly 10 minutes, so you better stock up on your ammunition and canned goods. Some of the articles are actually pretty good I have to admit, so I’m not beating up on MSN Money. Hey, I’m probably their biggest fan.
Our money media culture does make me wonder though why we give economic indicators such power. This morning I saw an article about how thankfully housing values were beginning to inch back up. Now the purpose of this post is not to argue whether this is true or not, but to explore why we feel the need to measure our assets in money only. Money does have its place but what if we all began to have a shift in focus and begin to equally, if not more, measure our wealth in other ways as well.
Wealth is really just agreement. Society agrees something has value and most of us fall in lock step behind and agree to it as well. Did you ever stop and wonder why people pay such outrageous sums for diamonds? Who says diamonds are valuable? We do! Who says that a certain actor or athlete warrants a seven figure income? Again, we do! It’s all agreement. What if we could all start adding other items to our wealth lists? There’s health, family, friends, nature, etc…and of course anything else that you personally value. We don’t have to be slaves to everything our culture has decided is worth something. I have two of the most excellent feline companions and a very wise turtle. I would not trade a single one of them for a house, car, jewel, etc…I challenge you to come up with a list of what you value and what brings real wealth to your life. I bet you will find your real wealth is quite different from what you’ve been conditioned to think is valuable.