Why I don't want to be rich

It seems like a lot of folks out there want to make a ton of money and some actually get their wish. However, for people in my field (science) making a ton of money is a tough pull but I am not really upset about that fact. I would rather not make a ton of money and here is why.

Money - A Stable Medium Human Beings Can't Handle

It is my belief that human beings have not evolved to be able to handle money. I am a big fan of justifying things with an evolutionary basis, so I am going to continue that here. Take your run of the mill animal out there, say a bird. The tasks of a bird are relatively limited, eat, breed, and stay alive as long as possible so you can continue to breed. This is more or less the operating system of every animal on the planet, including humans. Now what is cool about animals, and what sucks about people, is that there is no such thing as excess. Animals (and probably plants) live in such a state of equilibrium with the world that they only get exactly what they need. Have you ever seen an over weight wild animal? No way, they hunt/scavenge/graze/etc.. and ingest only enough food for their survival. When they are satiated, they stop and go look for a mate or take a much needed nap.

Now lets look at humans. Unlike the rest of the animal kingdom, we have this thing called money. Money is basically a stable medium that enables us to obtain goods and services at a time of our choosing. Rather than have to go meal to meal we can put a few bills in our wallet and save them for when we are hungry and stop off at deli when the time is right. Don't get me wrong, money is a good thing because it allows us to focus on other topics which has allowed for our mental development. However, people in this world, namely Americans, have developed a poor relationship with money and are falling into bad habits and behavioral trends. Because Americans now are benefiting from prosperity we didn't earn, we are more or less the lazy son that loafs on the coach in our rich parents living room. We were brought up in the hay day of the red white blue with things like winning WWII and the Cold War, being the dominant super power in the world, economic superiority over the rest of the world, and the Olympic Dream Team. But now, we have no contemporary accolades to showcase and our laziness is a product of us not valuing the dollars that our predecessors established.

Obesity in this country is well over 50% and every American is expected to get fat at some point in their life, especially in their senior years. Why is this the case here and not the rest of the world? Money. Because we have become so wealthy, we are no longer motivated. The passion, the drive, the will to overcome has been replaced with complacency, with comfort, and with impatience. In my opinion, no one does anything simply for the sake of doing it. People have to be motivated, there has to be pressure on them to do what is necessary to succeed. However, because there is so much money in this country the incentive to work hard diminishes because there are so many distractions and easier options.

Now, instead of going to work, you can work from home. Instead of working out, there are a million and one diet pills/plans. Instead of cooking a meal, you can go to McDonalds's or Burger King and you know that once these fast food companies start pushing the same crap they are either going to drop their prices or give you more for your buck. What has that turned into? A sea of people eating gobs and gobs of greasy garbage. If you talk to most foreigners, they'll tell you that one of the most surprising things about Americans is how much they eat. The serving sizes in this country are almost twice the size as they are in other countries and it is no wonder why we are fat, we are stuffing so much food in our mouths. And instead of following that diet with some heavy duty exercise, we sit our asses down on the couch and watch TV, or play video games, or do anything but sweat. Comfort like this is something most people in this world don't have and Americans need to have less of.

Getting back to my evolution argument, human beings have not learned how to live with excess. We do not understand the value of balance and just want to maximize gain in the true capitalistic sense of the word. What does this translate to? We as Americans have become so consumed with wanting to make money to buy stuff that we forget that it should be the other way around. We should strive to work for something and have money be the avenue we use, not work for money so that we can find things to do with it.

Lets say instead of trying to make as much money as possible, someone were to figure out exactly what they want in the world. The right job, live in the right place, find the right mate, maybe have kids, all that crap. Once you know what you want (which most folks do not) then you should set out trying to earn the money to achieve it.

Ok, what's the point Match?

The point I am trying to make is that most people work for money not for what they need it for. They want cash, but have no real idea what to do with it, or they have a general idea but it isn't what they really want, but rather what someone has told them they want.

In the event that they actually make the dough and the family is loaded, what happens? Warped families with distorted priorities, greed, and no real commitment to anything but green. Now I'm not saying that money is bad or that people should not be rich, but a person should not have money just sit, it serves no purpose. Why have a ton of money just sitting around? It only causes problems. The overall point here is that I would only want enough money to get what I want, no more, no less.

I had an interesting conversation a while back when I was visiting some friends in San Diego. I said "You know, ever since I moved to New Haven from San Diego, I really haven't thought about money at all. I don't make all that much but I never think about it and I wonder if making a ton of money is really necessary for a happy lifestyle". My friend replied with a very true and scary statement, "wait till you have a family, then you'll need/want more money". I thought about this for a few seconds and my heart sank because I knew my happiness was fleeting and one day it would be gone. But then I popped up and with a very confident tone I said "Fuck it, then I don't want a family".

This had me thinking some more. People in America are so consumed with things like the perfect career, owning a house, having kids, all that crap. Is it possible that every person out there wants this? My whole life I have never wanted to own a house. Dealing with plumbing and roof leaks, hiring a gardner, equity bull shit, all that crap. Do I really want the head ache? Yes it is a good investment, but who cares. I would rather not worry about shit my whole life and enjoy the time I have on this earth. I don't want to be married to the ground. I want to be free to do and go wherever I want and owning a house seems like such an emotional/physical/mental burden.

This is not to say that people should not buy houses, but don't buy them just because you think you have too. My mom told me once when I was bitching about this and she said "Michael, one day you will buy a house" to which I replied "Really? Says who?". Maybe my mind changes in the next 30 years, but right now, there is nothing I want to do less than buy a house and that hasn't changed in 7 years.

Maybe I am just young and maybe I don't understand the way things work, but this is what I do understand, being happy. A few of my friends have bought houses and they seem miserable, or at least I would be miserable if I were them. They have wives or finances and they basically have no life because they live and die for some wood and dirt. Why deal with that? Maybe if you have a ton of cash and you have to put it somewhere, buy a house, but like I said at the beginning, I have no desire to be rich. I don't need to be. All I need is enough money to get me the things that I want.

Nothing in the world feels better than knowing what you want. Knowing what you want gives you focus, it gives you drive, and it motivates you to do something with yourself. If you are motivated to just make money, you are a shell of a human being. Even if you earn the money, what are you going to do with it? Buying cars and clothes and having the accessories to get the woman/man you want is not going to give you happiness, because you are chasing a fabricated idea. You are working for paper and in the end, it can't buy you happiness. It can only distract you from what you really want.

On the other hand, if you work at something you like (which is another way of saying, doing what you want) then you should have the ability to get what you really want. Granted, maybe a scientist like me won't get a mansion and a porche, but I don't really want that. All I want is to be happy. I want an asian woman by my side (love'em) and I want to do cool shit. Travel the world, have job satisfaction, earn my way through a great career etc...

Things like children, houses, country clubs, etc.. are manifested goals that are pushed on us by people that chose something and want us to follow the same path. It's just like religion. If everyone is buying houses and having kids then I am safe in buying a house and having kids. However, what happens when you are miserable? Money and children have a funny way of putting pressure on a marriage and considering that monogamy is not something human beings are all that great at yet, it's no surprise divorce happens. So you get the family and the house and the money and you aren't happy, what's the deal?

Maybe this is a lifestyle people like but growing up with 6 parents and more divorce than I could shake a stick at has lead me to question the whole family thing. In any event, my goal for the rest of my life is to figure out what I want and try and get it. Life choices are like taste in music or movies or women. Everyone is different. Everyone has a separate set of proclivities and trying to cram everyone into the PTA/home owner mold is pretty bogus.

Bottom line, I don't want to be rich. Having money is not something human beings handle well. People that are rich develop things like greed and even worse, entitlement. There is nothing worse than someone who thinks they deserve something just because they are alive. This is one reason why I don't like white women. They are conditioned to think that just because they are alive that an education, a wedding ring and the perfect family will come there way. BULL SHIT!! I have had to work for everything I have and everyone should be the same. When you work for something, when you struggle, when you get frustrated, you learn what you like and don't like. You learn about what matters and what is superfluous. You learn how to be happy.

When you get what you want, that feeling of satisfaction is so amazing and no one will understand it but you. A smile on your face will be challenged by those around you because they want happiness and they don't like the thought of someone else having it, especially if they don't understand it. Yesterday I drove all the way to Costco just to get a hot dog and a slice of pizza. It was a 15 minute drive for a $4 lunch and to an outsider, this seems to be completely retarded. However, what they would never understand is that this $4 lunch is what I wanted. It is what makes me happy. I will go through the hoops to get what I want and once I ate it, the satisfaction I felt was indescribable.

In the end, all I am really trying to say is that money doesn't get you anywhere. It is nice to have money so that you can buy things and go places but if you really don't want those things in the first place, then don't bother trying to make the money. Figure out what you want first and then go about trying to earn the money to pay for it. I have a few friends that do investment banking in NYC and I have never known someone with such low job satisfaction and contentment. All they do is work and earn money they don't have time to spend and if they get out, they'll have a bunch of green in the bank and have no idea what do with it. Oh and they missed their 20's as well.

In my experience, just do what makes you happy. What you want is not a product of what someone tells you but what you figure out for yourself. Earn your way and your adult years will kick ass. Try and earn money for someone else's wants, and you'll have front row seats to a life of disappointment and faceless frustration.

just my thoughts

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