I don't love money, but, I love eating and wearing clothes and having a roof over my head., which, unfortunately means I have to have some filthy lucre.
Reading articles of this nature, along with the events of the past few years, from my socialist playpen has really made me more aware of my reliance on what the government "provides" (hands us back after taking our wages).
I try not to love money, and within my capacity I am trying to imagine ways in which my reliance can diminish. But it's hard not to powerfully appreciate government handouts, until you syart seeing them for the flypaper they are
Wow, what a powerful Bible passage! I continue to be amazed at what treasures can be found in the Bible that somehow, despite spending the first 18 years of my life in church, I never heard of! It just so happens that I'm reading "The Treasure Principle" right now, and the author speaks so enthusiastically about radical generosity that I'm tempted to give away half of my possessions 🤣
I learned to not worship money from a father who did. My father made a very good income (he was an airline pilot) & we had a big house on a lake & belonged to the local yacht club & the golf & country club. Our small town was kind of snooty, but I didn't realize that as a kid - that was just the water we swam in. So, Dad. He always wanted more. More-more-more. He was never satisfied, even though we had a more than just comfortable life. He was a very unhappy person. Terribly insecure, of course. That's why he wanted money to fill the hole. Which it could never do! The up side of having this not-nice father with his money obsession (alcoholism was also a big player in the family dynamics)? My siblings & I learned to not worship money. To basically not give a crap about it. I got some other very positive lessons from my father - but I've sure always been grateful I learned early not to think money, & possessions, & social status, are the whole deal!
The interesting thing about Dad was, though he was a bit of a horror show, I got other good things from him. A love of books/reading, classical music - & skepticism about TV & advertising. “Lotus flowers growing in the mud,” as it were.
The capitalism vs socialism binary definitely seems like Hobson's Choice to me. There are alternatives. I've mentioned mutualism before. I'm sure contributors here know others.
Funny I was just thinking about this topic recently. Brought to mind a book my dad gave me waaay back in college called Economics For Helen by Belloc. I had never even considered that there was some alternative to capitalism or socialism. And while I could not bring myself to consider socialism of any kind, capitalism seemed like a "lesser of two evils" thing and I didn't understand people's adamant defense of it, as if it is some kind of virtue! I think people (myself included) don't understand economics well at all. It often happens then that some will conflate capitalism with democracy/America/patriotism or other such feel-good concepts.
Anyway, if you want to read a good book, Economics for Helen is short and pretty easy to pick up for a person who is not real into economics. It will certainly get a person thinking about who benefits from capitalism most.
Belloc and Chesterton tried to come up with an alternative to capitalism, as well as socialism . They called it Distributism. A lot of it was inspired by the Catholic social teachings. Belloc was a remarkable man. Chesterton was too. They were not enamoured of false dichotomies.
It was a nice gift indeed! Of course, I had wanted the new DSM as well as maybe some of my way overpriced textbooks, but all I got was two books on economics (forgot the other title-it was a tome!). Funny that 25 years or so later that book remains in my mind and did influence me!
I don't love money, but, I love eating and wearing clothes and having a roof over my head., which, unfortunately means I have to have some filthy lucre.
Cheers, Mickey!
🙏
Reading articles of this nature, along with the events of the past few years, from my socialist playpen has really made me more aware of my reliance on what the government "provides" (hands us back after taking our wages).
I try not to love money, and within my capacity I am trying to imagine ways in which my reliance can diminish. But it's hard not to powerfully appreciate government handouts, until you syart seeing them for the flypaper they are
🙏
Wow, what a powerful Bible passage! I continue to be amazed at what treasures can be found in the Bible that somehow, despite spending the first 18 years of my life in church, I never heard of! It just so happens that I'm reading "The Treasure Principle" right now, and the author speaks so enthusiastically about radical generosity that I'm tempted to give away half of my possessions 🤣
Thank you, AG, for getting it...and for suggesting that book. I'll be reading it ASAP!
There are so many better ways humans could be living. 🙏
I learned to not worship money from a father who did. My father made a very good income (he was an airline pilot) & we had a big house on a lake & belonged to the local yacht club & the golf & country club. Our small town was kind of snooty, but I didn't realize that as a kid - that was just the water we swam in. So, Dad. He always wanted more. More-more-more. He was never satisfied, even though we had a more than just comfortable life. He was a very unhappy person. Terribly insecure, of course. That's why he wanted money to fill the hole. Which it could never do! The up side of having this not-nice father with his money obsession (alcoholism was also a big player in the family dynamics)? My siblings & I learned to not worship money. To basically not give a crap about it. I got some other very positive lessons from my father - but I've sure always been grateful I learned early not to think money, & possessions, & social status, are the whole deal!
Thank you, Janet, for sharing personal evidence we humans can do so, so much better. 🙏
The interesting thing about Dad was, though he was a bit of a horror show, I got other good things from him. A love of books/reading, classical music - & skepticism about TV & advertising. “Lotus flowers growing in the mud,” as it were.
I truly appreciate your nuanced perception of him.
The capitalism vs socialism binary definitely seems like Hobson's Choice to me. There are alternatives. I've mentioned mutualism before. I'm sure contributors here know others.
🎯
Funny I was just thinking about this topic recently. Brought to mind a book my dad gave me waaay back in college called Economics For Helen by Belloc. I had never even considered that there was some alternative to capitalism or socialism. And while I could not bring myself to consider socialism of any kind, capitalism seemed like a "lesser of two evils" thing and I didn't understand people's adamant defense of it, as if it is some kind of virtue! I think people (myself included) don't understand economics well at all. It often happens then that some will conflate capitalism with democracy/America/patriotism or other such feel-good concepts.
Anyway, if you want to read a good book, Economics for Helen is short and pretty easy to pick up for a person who is not real into economics. It will certainly get a person thinking about who benefits from capitalism most.
That book was a nice gift!
Belloc and Chesterton tried to come up with an alternative to capitalism, as well as socialism . They called it Distributism. A lot of it was inspired by the Catholic social teachings. Belloc was a remarkable man. Chesterton was too. They were not enamoured of false dichotomies.
It was a nice gift indeed! Of course, I had wanted the new DSM as well as maybe some of my way overpriced textbooks, but all I got was two books on economics (forgot the other title-it was a tome!). Funny that 25 years or so later that book remains in my mind and did influence me!
I will be checking out Economics for Helen soon...thanks, Jamie!
🎯
Needed to come back to this post
"Money is the sandpit of the soul"--fontaines dc