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The real use of money is to buy freedom

paraschopra.com

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Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#101

Post by officemonkey »

_wwz4 wrote: post #99
officemonkey wrote: post #43

Everybody just loves the word "freedom," like it's some magical super-juice which is the be-all and end-all of the American experience. We will all be free of obligation, pain, responsibility, and any other positive or negative thing soon enough. Instead of the pursuit of freedom, we should dedicate ourselves to obligations that honor ourselves and others. You don't really want "freedom," you want an obligation that…

Instead of the pursuit of freedom, we should dedicate ourselves to obligations that honor ourselves and others Says you. I appreciate the freedom to sit at home and play a video game on a Saturday without feeling compelled to meet the needs of others.

Sounds like you're honoring yourself. Carry on.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#102

Post by Artistry121 »

rikacomet wrote: post #69
miles wrote: post #21

Tim O'Reilly on money: It’s easy to get caught up in the heady buzz of making money. You should regard money as fuel for what you really want to do, not as a goal in and of itself. Money is like gas in the car — you need to pay attention or you’ll end up on the side of the road — but a well-lived life is not a tour of gas stations! Source: http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/01/work-on-stuff-that-matters-...

perhaps, its this way, that earning money is so hard compared to other things we do in our life (except love), is we have to push our self so much, to earn it, but once we have enough.. we can't stop. Thats because its also incredibly hard to stop earning money once you know how to do it.

How hard is earning money? At least in America I know plenty of people who make money by sitting at a cash register ringing up items all day or sitting at a desk in air conditioning. Hard work is the farming and toiling that true advancements in technology, through trade, have made unnecessary and inefficient in today's world.

In America everyone has access to more information than ever before, more comfort than ever before and many have to work less than ever before. Everything's amazing and no one is happy.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#103

Post by tveita »

flyinglizard wrote: post #93
nexttimer wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The real use of money is to buy freedom The real problem is: This additional freedom you can buy with money means less freedom for somebody else. Inequality (wealth-based) means nothing else than domination. If you are richer, then you dominate the poorer people. And richer countries dominate poorer countries. This is the most basic and fundamental injustice [0] we seem to accept in our Western culture. Because we…

I think that's a simplistic view. Most rich people became rich because they provided a particular value to society. This value is exchanged for money, which allows the rich to draw back this value as they see fit. Lets imagine that Steve Jobs, instead of getting paid for his iPhones, sold them in exchange for a person's time. The average hourly wage in USA is approximately $24, meaning an iPhone would retail for abou…

There were more people than Steve Jobs involved in manufacturing the iPhone.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#104

Post by keiferski »

Although I'm nowhere near financial freedom, I've been wondering lately what "freedom" means in a strictly material sense. Inflation, bad investments, etc. can eat away at a bank account. But material objects seem to be more secure. The problem, of course, is balancing this need for reliable physical possessions with my (and many other's) minimalistic tendencies and general dislike of "stuff".

Here's what I've got so far:

- a nice house in a nice neighborhood, tricked out with the best in security, fitness, intellectual and entertainment devices. Add in renewable energy sources via windmills/solar panels/ etc to truly be self-sufficient.

- enough canned food and rice to last multiple lifetimes.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#105

Post by AndrewKemendo »

This article and the bulk of the comments strike me as shortsighted. Money is the driver of industry. The more you have, the more you can direct resources towards productive activity.

The idea of money being freedom is a great comparison, which I make myself often. The OP and others here however largely limit their notions to hedonistic freedoms and critiquing buying "things."

What about building that school or the playground in the neighborhood that can't afford it? What about funding fundamental research that is under funded right now? What about starting a job training program for the under employed.

No, there is no such thing as too much money because there is no end to the things that need to be done in the world. So the whole conversation about enough is baffling.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#106

Post by Artistry121 »

flyinglizard wrote: post #93
nexttimer wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The real use of money is to buy freedom The real problem is: This additional freedom you can buy with money means less freedom for somebody else. Inequality (wealth-based) means nothing else than domination. If you are richer, then you dominate the poorer people. And richer countries dominate poorer countries. This is the most basic and fundamental injustice [0] we seem to accept in our Western culture. Because we…

I think that's a simplistic view. Most rich people became rich because they provided a particular value to society. This value is exchanged for money, which allows the rich to draw back this value as they see fit. Lets imagine that Steve Jobs, instead of getting paid for his iPhones, sold them in exchange for a person's time. The average hourly wage in USA is approximately $24, meaning an iPhone would retail for abou…

And those involved in creating the iPhone (in countries with strong property laws) all entered into a trade agreement where they provided their time or skills in exchange for a certain amount of money.

Bill Gates had to give 30 cents of every dollar he earned to the US government to avoid going to prison. That's domination - the threat of force if penance is not paid. Wal-mart never made anyone work for them. They simply have said we will pay $7.25 for someone's time with basic skills - if no one was willing to work at that wage they would up it. The value of unskilled labor is low.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#107

Post by flyinglizard »

tveita wrote: post #103
flyinglizard wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's a simplistic view. Most rich people became rich because they provided a particular value to society. This value is exchanged for money, which allows the rich to draw back this value as they see fit. Lets imagine that Steve Jobs, instead of getting paid for his iPhones, sold them in exchange for a person's time. The average hourly wage in USA is approximately $24, meaning an iPhone would retail for abou…

There were more people than Steve Jobs involved in manufacturing the iPhone.

The same logic applies to each of them. It is assumed they chose to work for Apple, and that their salary reflects whatever value they bring the company.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#108

Post by guard-of-terra »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #81
guard-of-terra wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Poorer" doesn't mean much. First of all, you should factor in purchasing power; second, constant expenses which are the killer. In most countries, especially poorer ones, you don't have to own a car to be in the middle class. Neither you have to pay for gas, car itself and parking/garage. You can realistically move by foot and/or mass transit. Disclaimer: I think I'm in top 5% in my country, probably earn more than…

Clearly you still haven't read the link I provided, which provides numbers after adjusting for purchasing power . I'd provide you with more statistics showing how wealthy poor Americans are ( http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/h150-07.pdf ), but clearly you aren't going to read any numbers. So instead, go watch about 4 minutes of Delhi Belly (good movie, BTW, vastly better than typical Bollywood crap) which always c…

What's so terribly wrong about those scenes? After applying cinema discount.

They don't drink your juice in the USA?

I will pick middle-class Indian over poor American every day, because: you won't get shot, you won't land in prison, you won't have to work three jobs for funny money, you'll have a real family and your children won't do drugs.

Instead you'll be raking in some respect.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#109

Post by cm2012 »

sokoloff wrote: post #63
gchokov wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, just create a blank web page with black font saying "it's never going to be enough, give this thought up". Reminds me of another saying that software development time is never enough, except when you have hard borders and deadlines with the right priorities and vision - it will take exactly that time. Getting more money loosens the borders - you buy better houses, better cars, have bigger family, make bigger inve…

That's true to a point for everyone: that having more money from a low starting point primarily increases lifestyle. But as you add more and more money, I think that most people reach a turning point where "enough really is enough" and their worries about money truly diminish, but that lifestyle stops increasing. As I've grown in my own career, for sure my lifestyle increased. I literally subsisted on Ramen and $2 fr…

The two major studies I've seen on this topic have both said that the magic number is actually 60-75000 a year. After that happiness plateaus. I would source you but I'm on mobile.

Re: The real use of money is to buy freedom

#110

Post by JoeAltmaier »

Artistry121 wrote: post #106
flyinglizard wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's a simplistic view. Most rich people became rich because they provided a particular value to society. This value is exchanged for money, which allows the rich to draw back this value as they see fit. Lets imagine that Steve Jobs, instead of getting paid for his iPhones, sold them in exchange for a person's time. The average hourly wage in USA is approximately $24, meaning an iPhone would retail for abou…

And those involved in creating the iPhone (in countries with strong property laws) all entered into a trade agreement where they provided their time or skills in exchange for a certain amount of money. Bill Gates had to give 30 cents of every dollar he earned to the US government to avoid going to prison. That's domination - the threat of force if penance is not paid. Wal-mart never made anyone work for them. They si…

Unions have another take on that subject. Wage slavery is a real thing. Its only 'free will' if there's another option available. In many early WalMart locations they placed the store optimally to starve out local small-town businesses. After a year or two they were literally the only game in town.
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