Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Into The Void With John Miller

Money Has No Real Value

Money, we all know what it is, what can be done with it, and there's never enough, no matter how much we have.

It's a well known myth money can buy happiness. Ask anyone if they had a million dollars if they'd be happy. Odds are they'd say yes, but they'd be wrong.

Statistics have shown those who come into riches quickly, such as by winning a lottery, wind up broker than they were at the start because they have no real concept of what money is and does. Money, friends and neighbors, is one nasty task-master, and isn't covered by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of these United States of America.

Money, in truth, is misery. When you have it, you worry about it. It's not just spent for fun and to purchase necessities. No, we have surrendered our individual freedom to the quest for riches.

This doesn't necessarily include fame, it's a horse of a different color.

Let's look at the facts: money is nothing more than a modern approach to the old barter system. We have, without giving prior consent, agreed upon numerical value of paper and coins which we trade for goods and services needed. In fact, we trade our own services for this agreed upon system of barter  it's called getting a paycheck for doing a job.

We work hard all week and get paid. What's the first thing we do, begin complaining about the bills we have to use our money to pay. We tend to forget about the agreement we made so we could have such things as housing, electricity, Internet service, water, sewer service, televisions, stereos, cell phones, etc ... into nausea.

What do we want to do with "our" money  have fun, of course. Go to movies, take trips, visit theme parks, museums, arcades or shop. This is being honest, and honesty isn't always a pretty thing.

Now, we have all these things. There's something around to keep us entertained from the time we get up until we go to bed, during our free time. But, are we happy?

No, we aren't. In fact, we're miserable.

Why? We have all the toys we can afford.

Well, we tend to want more. There's no such thing as enough. And therein, folks, lies the problem. We simply cannot be satisfied with what we have, especially if we're under the impression someone else may have more.

OK. Let's do something strange and begin thinking back. Do some personal time travel into our own history, and be honest with yourself. Nothing is more pathetic than someone who lies to themselves and believes it. This will be much easier for the middle aged crowd, as most of today's young people won't have a clue as to what I'm talking about.

Remember when you were a child. Most likely mom didn't work, except in the home, while dad was out making a living. Things may have been financially tight, but this wasn't as noticeable to us because we didn't understand it. We were too busy doing things with our friends, such as hiking in the woods, walking the rails, playing pick-up football, baseball or basketball, marbles, dolls, house, whatever. In other words, having fun.

Time did what it does and passed. We, as a generation, grew up and started life on our own. We found a mate to help us in the struggle, but were barely making ends meet.

The first apartment, trailer or house, was tiny, but seemed like a castle because it was ours. There wasn't much money for frills, like eating out or movies, so other forms of entertainment were used, such as visiting friends, reading or talking (legitimate communication between adults).

Dreams were dreamed. Plans planned and we swore our children would have it better. But, the dreams and plans were flawed because we based them on having money.

We give our children "things" such as cars, computers, video games and the like. What they need, though, is to live life as we did when we were younger.

Believe it or not, as you choose, but our pasts, struggles and all, helped shape our character and make us better people than we would have been had everything been handed to us on a silver platter.

Who, among us, can honestly say the early days weren't some of the happiest times we spent. We shared openly with those we cared about, helping them as they helped us.

Our children aren't learning the lessons they truly need to know in order to survive. They need to learn about real work, toil, sweating for a buck and responsibility for the money once it has been earned.

Let's do our children a favor. Quit giving them "things". Instead, teach them what's important in life  true friendship, hard work, honor, respect for self and others, dignity  and they'll develop the skills necessary to be productive members of our global community.