“What, you don’t like to make money?” I’ve been asked that question a number of times, usually by men, usually by men who’ve made a lot of money, usually with an implicit judgment along the lines of “What, are you out of your mind?!”
Actually, I love to make money. My vision of success always included a spacious home in the Hollywood Hills, complete with swimming pool, hot tub, workout room, and screening room. I still hold to that vision, however unlikely it may be. In the age of first world excess and planetary climate change, where Americans consume 4-5 times their fair share of per capita planetary resources, my wife often chides me for this vision. She constantly wants to scale down our lifestyle so we’re consuming fewer resources, taking up less space, leaving a smaller footprint. I applaud those intentions but nonetheless push in the opposite direction, despite all reason, since I certainly don’t have the financial resources to support it.
My problem is a sense of entitlement. I feel like I’ve earned it. I’m 54. I’ve worked pretty hard to achieve what I’ve achieved in my life. I’ve paid my dues. So I deserve the good life. That’s what my sense of entitlement tells me. Of course, I’m far from alone. Look around. In this country you don’t have to look far to see a lot of people with a well-developed sense of entitlement. What does your sense of entitlement tell you?
If it tells you “I deserve it too,” fine. My purpose in this moment is not to critique the culture of entitlement. It is what it is. Something to be aware of. Note it, and if you want to, do something about it. If not, move on.
So I feel entitled. I love money. I love what money can buy for me. Though I’m not big on consumer items. I really don’t care about those. What my money buys me is travel, space, comfort, time, and art: travel, ideally in style – nice hotels, first class flights, champagne; space, to live comfortably in – with lots of natural light and beauty in my surroundings; comfort, I love my California King bed, big couches, a well ordered, well equipped big kitchen, a large desk and workspace; time, to do what I want most on a given day – a chance to support a friend, go swimming, read a book or watch a movie, meditate, take long lunches with colleagues; and art, 2 dimensional, 3 dimensional… books, movies, music, dance, theater, sculpture, painting, performance… if it’s art there’s very little I’m not interested in.
Those are the things I like to spend my money on. I can’t afford them all, no question, but there are many that I can afford. Hey, if you’re unemployed it doesn’t take money to have plenty of free time! It also doesn’t take a lot of money to go out and experience good art.
One of my greatest big money fantasies has been job creation for friends and family. I’d love to be able to find or create great jobs for people I know – people with extraordinary talents who can’t find decent jobs that fully exercise those talents. Everybody has something they’re good at, something they love to do. Our task is to help each other find the right outlets.
It’s an idea born in Karl Marx’s writing (no relation). The desired end to alienated labor – where the means of production, the whole structure of daily work life, stands in direct conflict with any potential fulfillment of any individual worker – is to eliminate that disconnect. If everyone knew exactly what he/she were on this planet to do in this lifetime and did just that can you imagine how happy everyone would be? What a gift! Imagine your delight in being able to give that gift to those you love. What fun! That’s a world I want to live in. Like a whole economy based on the Burning Man model.
The simple truth is I’ve never cared enough about making money relative to other priorities in my life. Making art has always come first. Living my mission. Knowing that I’m being of service to the web of life, that I’m doing my part, not just sucking it dry. Finding meaning in things. Discovering the truth of what is. Becoming the man I’ve always wanted to be; assisting others become all they can be. Money just placates my fears, gives me a sense of satisfaction and security. Those other things fire up my soul.
So when those rich guys ask me “Don’t you like making money?!” I tell them “Sure, but there’s so much else that I like more!”
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Everyone has the perfect gift to give the world – and if each of us is freed up to give the gift that is uniquely ours to give, the world will be in total harmony. Buckminster Fuller