February 2, 2009
Losing Money With A Smile
Although its green, nice to look at and fun to count, the US dollar has no intrinsic value. As an illustration of money, it’s just printed paper representing an IOU in lieu of some societal value. In fact, money everywhere has the same purpose, of easily providing purchasing power to whoever has it, while being a source of envy for those who don’t.
Most of history, and politics, issues of war, civil unrest and peace involve money somewhere in the mix as the causal factor of conflict even if no one is around to identify the transaction. Arguments often arise between nations when formulas are created to measure one countries’ currency in relation to another. Many cultures define success as the ability to get as much of it than is needed, while each generation passes down the misguided notion that “security” is synonymous with possessing it.
The idea that, suffering along the way to obtaining money will somehow teach the value of having it, has become more wishful thinking than a golden rule, since greed and temptation for an easy buck seems to be everywhere. What happened to the idea that self-confidence in one’s own ability to find a solution to whatever uncertainty presents is where the nature of true security lies.
People with “no money” usually fare better during economic downturns than those who have more than they know what to do with, as long as they have access to good education which translates into a level playing field. For them, ingenuity is the way of survival rather than spending their lives obsessing over how to generate more and discover ways to avoid losing it by inventing ways to keeping track of it.
Perhaps finding another way to engage goods and services is possible if money were totally abolished, as in the Star Trek Universe of the Twenty-Fourth Century, where society provides for all needs effortlessly allowing everyone to be creative and focus on higher pursuits. It sounds wonderful but removes incentives and the need for personal motivation, not necessarily a good thing for a balanced equation. Conservative Republicans might add their two cents, “It’s a bit too socialistic.”
Maybe science could eventually invent the ‘Duplicator’ to make everything out of nothing, so no one has to worry about anything, creating another form of a classless society, eliminating the need for competition. But wait, this is not a credible option since matter, according to Physics, can neither be created nor destroyed. However, if one is able to think outside the box, other alternatives will make it possible one day to lose money happily with a smile.
In a career that has spanned seven decades, from his first days as part of the Martin & Lewis comedy team (1946-1957), he has worked consistently and passionately for the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, which he founded in 1966, and continues in his yearly Labor Day telethons aired for decades as well as off camera despite his advancing age. He has raised over two billion dollars that have been used to further scientific research to develop a breakthrough in neuromuscular research and patient care.
