Had a pretty heated discussion recently revolving around success, values and happiness. Three very subjective topics, plus the injection of alcohol, brings us to a colorful 2 hours.
3 players, 2 guys and 1 girl. 1 guy and the girl, coming from polar opposites, the 3rd guy, namely me, somewhere in the middle and trying to act as a mediator, dispute being hot-headed myself.
Basically the points of view went as follows:
Girl: Success it tied to money.
Guy 1: Success can have NOTHING to do with money
Backgrounds:
Girl : Middle class. Dad worked his way up the corporate ladder. Mom works for the government. Money was a cause of problems for their family and was a constant issue.
Guy 1: Former elite, but now middle class. Grandfather was a governor and mayor. Dad was a mayor but was outed due to being too straight. Guy 2 has seen better days, but money problems have always been ignored.
Obviously, money has always been some kind of issue for both of them. And so money has become the point of contention. Girl is basically fixated on the need for money, a need to go from a have not to a have, sure that money will help her solve many problems and will allow her to focus on other things. Guy1 believes that he doesn't need money, believing that its other values that need focusing on.
They never saw eye to eye the entire night.
As for myself? I value many things, like Guy1, but I also value money for what it is. A tool. Something that one needs to have in order to make a real difference. What do I mean a real difference? I established last night that my thinking is based on metrics. Sure it sounds nice that Guy1 doesn't mind making a positive personal difference in a few lives. But why should you stop there?
"Just because you can't save the world doesn't mean you shouldn't try."
OK I said that with a few beers down, but what I mean is that any difference you should make should be made to as many people as you can. If you have a gift, it should be shared with the world. And still this does not mean you can't make a more personal difference in certain individuals.
One of the tools that you need to touch multitudes? Money. And I'm not talking about hand outs. I don't believe in hand outs. I mean enriching lives. With education, with employment, with enterprise. With better ways of doing things. Its through money that things can get done. Thats the way of the world. Show me a better currency, and maybe I'll change my mind.
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