I started my career with humble beginnings. Fast forward some time and then last week, I finally closed my student loans while having saved some cash for emergency. This is a target that I longed for and I felt accomplished. However, yesterday I felt a sudden drop in dopamine. I started wondering why does everyone praise on getting a job? All I can see is that I can make ends meet. I surely thank my well wishers for that but the question still begs an answer: why does society make it such a big deal out of the ability to pay bills? Do all dreams condense to such a trite experience? Sure, money enabled me to pay my bills, but why is that ability so coveted?
Dude you were able to save. Not everyone has that luxury. Truly humble - no $ to pay for bills or save - is so stressful, it’s toxic.
would you rather barter?
Those who go on to get more tend to have other motivations on top of food and shelter. There is nothing wrong not having those motivations and focus on life and family.
Money buys you freedom and the ability to guard against risks (e.g. health), allows you to buy more experiences that broke ass folks don’t get. Are you dim witted or what?
You sound like you've never had to suck a dick to make rent. So I wouldn't expect you to understand. You sound like you haven't been denied anything in life. After that happens. You learn why wealth is nice
It is just culture. American culture is about making something out of yourself, achieving, material wealth, etc. If you’re living in America it will be hard to think outside of this paradigm as everything around you is conditioning you to think in a similar manner. Money itself is a human invention, therefore anything to do with money is open for critical examination. A toddler finds ways to be joyful and happy about life even though they do not know language, do not have a concept of self (which is a psychological construct). To put it bluntly - toddlers aren’t aware that there are other ways to be therefore they feel comfortable with simply being as they are. You may feel wealthy with a $200k in Eastern Europe, whereas in Silicone Valley you may need $10m, and as an Amazon native you may feel “wealthy” if you have a machete. Wealth is relative to culture, context, group. If you have not experienced times of dire need, you may not attribute such importance to being wealthy.
A toddler doesn’t need to pay bills
Also, dumb logic. A toddler does have wealth - they have a benevolent donor that gives them unlimited food, shelter, protection, healthcare, and even entertainment. All they need to do is cry. That is wealth. If I had that I wouldn’t need money.
money facilitates trade. a free market with prices allows us to discover what consumers value and for producers to meet the needs of consumers and manage scarcity. Without that system we would have no way of knowing this and we would be guessing, resulting in a very inefficient allocation of resources. As for jobs, they're one of the primary mechanisms we use to seek the approval of others which is vital for human flourishing. we desire not only to be loved, but to be lovely, and providing a service to others day in and day out is one way to do that. To be needed is one of the keys to success in life.
I have been feeling the same way recently, after spending thousands of dollars for my step dad’s chemo treatments and at the end his body couldnt take it any more, looking back now having money got to our head making us think we could reverse a 4th stage cancer and made him suffer through the treatments because we could afford, i feel like that was so arrogant of me! 🤦♀️
I appreciate having enough money that I don't have to stress about money. Even when I was making $25k/yr, I lived below my means so that I didn't have to stress about money, so it's not like you need big TC to achieve that. Nowadays I'm in a much fancier place in life (TC 450k, NW 1.8M), and I do get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing I could retire to somewhere cheap and tell everybody to go fuck themselves anytime if I felt like it. I won't do it, but just knowing that I COULD is what matters to me. That's the ultimate freedom.
It’s called being a responsible adult.