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Monday, February 18, 2002 |
 So many people I know bought California Lottery tickets last week. With the jackpot at $193 million, I guess people wanted a chance to make all that money. I wondered why, so I asked. "Oh I'd give money to all my friends," one friend said to me. "They'd hate you then," I said. She didn't get it. Perhaps it doesn't make sense at first, but then I heard a report on KCBS, they were interviewing people at the Half Moon Bay supermarket where one of the winning tickets was sold. "What would you do if a friend of yours won?" the reporter asked. "I'd kill them," blurted the woman he was interviewing. I'm sure she wouldn't actually kill the person, but the anger sounded real. I suppose if someone earns their wealth the hatred isn't as deep, but most people don't really think anyone earns that much money, not like you earn a paycheck or a diploma. And of course the lottery is pure luck. That much money divides you from almost everyone you know. In a sense, that's what money is for, to buy distance. That's why so many rich people are unhappy.  [Scripting News]
I love that final line "In a sense, that's what money is for, to buy distance." Dave is spot on. Most people use money to insulate themselves from what they perceive as pain, but in the process only create an even greater real pain. That is not to say that money is immoral, or of itself evil, or wrong. But getting caught up in the distraction of creating insulating layers so we do not have to deal with some of life's day to day tragedies (the jobless, the homeless, the hungry, the desparate, the downtrodden, the oppressed, the persecuted) results in self-centeredness (or alienation in Dave's example) - and that is painful. |
Last update: 1/20/2005; 3:56:21 PM .
