Money is NOT everything!

[winneythepooh7]

I don't know about others, but as someone who works in a traditionally low-paying field, and makes ends meet, I just wanted to bring up the fact again that money is not everything in life. Especially with the holidays right around the corner, we should remember that the important things in life are the time we spend with our family and friends, and how we treat one another. I also think that if you have money to pay for your bills (or even if it is taking you a long time to pay off your debts!) you are blessed. If you have food on your table you should feel blessed. The only reason I am bringing this up is because I feel personally that too many people spend to much time fixated on what other people are making. No one really knows another person's financial situation. IT'S NOT ANYONE ELSE'S BUSINESS WHAT SOME OTHER PERSON'S FINANCIAL SITUATION IS EITHER! And with that I would also like to add, that it doesn't make anyone a bad person for wanting to make a better salary, or do better for themselves overall, regardless of their title, and current financial situation in life. That is all..........

[yankeeyosh]

I agree 100% to this. And again, I never said a person is bad for wanting more. Hell, I want more. But it's a difference between "wanting it" and being annoying about it.

[ebruening]

This is a good thread. Everybody who has internet access can find out what I make. Teacher's salaries are available online. I feel fortunate in that I'm not weighed down by insurmountable debt, and that I can afford to buy loved ones gifts over the holidays. I can pay my bills on my salary, which I appreciate greatly.

[Irish79]

I also have a low income, and probably always will in my profession. Having grown up without a lot of money, my family was always able to focus on what is most important, and not material items. I feel grateful for my upbringing, and also that I am able to live comfortably on what I do make. I agree that the focus should be on the things in life that money can't buy, like your family and friends. Good post!

[LaFille]

it amazes me that there are people who think money is everything. i was talking to this middle-aged woman i waitress with last night and she told me to stop dating cute, young broke guys and go for older unattractive ones with money because they'll buy me more things. no joke... this was her motherly advice to me as a young woman! :eek:

[stonemonkey]

I like the Stephen Levine quote about the important things in life:

If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

[Deni81]

This is a good thread. Everybody who has internet access can find out what I make. Teacher's salaries are available online. I feel fortunate in that I'm not weighed down by insurmountable debt, and that I can afford to buy loved ones gifts over the holidays. I can pay my bills on my salary, which I appreciate greatly.

Yes, good point about the easy availability of teacher's salaries online. I am lucky that I have no undergrad debt, I can afford to live on my own and pay my bills. I don't need to live an extravegent lifestyle. Never have.

[vxmike]

Allow me to play devil's advocate here...

While not everything, let's not downplay the importance of money. It's a very useful tool that can in fact solve or reduce most of life's problems.

[winneythepooh7]

Allow me to play devil's advocate here...

While not everything, let's not downplay the importance of money. It's a very useful tool that can in fact solve or reduce most of life's problems.

Or create most of life's problems. This is supposed to be a positive thread btw!

[yankeeyosh]

They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.

The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.
And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.

He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory. - Simon & Garfunkel

[wordsmith]

The poem the S&G song is based upon (Art Garfunkel read in a sophomore English class and liked it):

Richard Cory

Whenever Richard Cory walked downtown
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from soul to crown,
Clean favored and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked
But still, he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich -- yes, richer than a king --
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought he was everything
To make us wish we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head

--Edward Arlington Robinson

[wordsmith]

I also have a low income, and probably always will in my profession. Having grown up without a lot of money, my family was always able to focus on what is most important, and not material items. I feel grateful for my upbringing, and also that I am able to live comfortably on what I do make. I agree that the focus should be on the things in life that money can't buy, like your family and friends. Good post!

Exactly the same background and experience. I agree. I am unfortunately not always able to live comfortably, but hopefully I'll be able to make some changes and that will change that somewhat, although it hasn't worked out yet, and allow me to live without so many worries. It is hard to enjoy the simple things if you can't quit stressing about basics.

[Irish79]

Exactly the same background and experience. I agree. I am unfortunately not always able to live comfortably, but hopefully I'll be able to make some changes and that will change that somewhat, although it hasn't worked out yet, and allow me to live without so many worries. It is hard to enjoy the simple things if you can't quit stressing about basics.

I definitely know what you mean about not being able to enjoy life without the basics, and the stress that goes along with that. My first job out of college, I made very little money and lived in an apartment that I could barely afford my share of the rent on. Coincidentally, I had a lot of stress, which led to medical problems - which my crappy insurance did not cover - which led to more stress. Not a fun time.

It really is amazing what stress can do to your body, and I definitely do agree with the person who posted that money does, to a certain degree, make life easier. I just don't think it should be the focus of one's life. Many people might have a hard time living on what I make now, but in comparison to earlier days, it is so much less stressful now, and I don't spend nearly as much time thinking about money.

My current roommate, on the other hand, grew up with more money, went to a private school, and is used to having the best name brands. It is sometimes difficult to listen to her complaining about how she wants this or that, and of how everyone has more or better things then she does.

[shimma]

Take a trip with me in 1913
To Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country.
I'll take you to a place called Italian Hall
Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball.
I'll take you through a door, and up a high stairs.
Singing and dancing is heard everywhere,
I will let you shake hands with the people you see.
And watch the kids dance round that big Christmas tree.
You ask about work and you ask about pay;
They'll tell you that they make less than a dollar a day,
Working the copper claims, risking their lives,
So it's fun to spend Christmas with children and wives.
There's talking and laughing and songs in the air,
And the spirit of Christmas is there everywhere,
Before you know it, you're friends with us all
And you're dancing around and around in the hall.
Well, a little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights,
To play the piano, so you gotta keep quiet.
To hear all this fun you would not realize
That the copper-boss thug-men are milling outside.


The copper-boss thugs stuck their heads in the door;
One of them yelled and he screamed, "There's a fire!"
A lady, she hollered, "There's no such a thing!
Keep on with your party, there's no such a thing."
A few people rushed, and it was only a few.
"It's only the thugs and the scabs fooling you."
A man grabbed his daughter and carried her down;
But the thugs held the door and he could not get out.
And then others followed, a hundred or more,
But most everybody remained on the floor.
The gun-thugs they laughed at their murderous joke,
While the children were smothered on the stair by the door.
Such a terrible sight I never did see.
We carried our children back up to their tree.
The scabs outside still laughed at their spree.
And the children that died there were seventy-three.
The piano played a slow funeral tune,
And the town was lit up by a cold Christmas moon;
The parents they cried and the miners they moaned,
"See what your greed for money has done." - Woody Guthrie

What kind of psycho would make up a story like that and why are you posting it here??? Do you not realize how upsetting this is for certain people to read?

[wordsmith]

It's a folk song.

[pisces2473]

It's a folk song.
Yeah, hence the Woody Guthrie at the bottom.

[wordsmith]

I definitely know what you mean about not being able to enjoy life without the basics, and the stress that goes along with that. My first job out of college, I made very little money and lived in an apartment that I could barely afford my share of the rent on. Coincidentally, I had a lot of stress, which led to medical problems - which my crappy insurance did not cover - which led to more stress. Not a fun time.

It really is amazing what stress can do to your body, and I definitely do agree with the person who posted that money does, to a certain degree, make life easier. I just don't think it should be the focus of one's life. Many people might have a hard time living on what I make now, but in comparison to earlier days, it is so much less stressful now, and I don't spend nearly as much time thinking about money.

Yeah, agreed. I'm not really to the point where I don't have to worry , yet, which is disappointing, but I can't do too much about it, besides continue to look for other employment that appeals, which is a slow process. I don't require much, but I need to be in a position where I can afford to worry less than I currently do.

[shimma]

Yeah, hence the Woody Guthrie at the bottom.

No, I get that Mark didn't write it (from the Woody Guthrie at the bottom), but my question is, if this is not based on an actual event, why would Woody Guthrie make up such a disgusting story?

[old_school_soul]

Money is not everything, sure. But a more correct statement is "Nothing is everything."

[yankeeyosh]

No, I get that Mark didn't write it (from the Woody Guthrie at the bottom), but my question is, if this is not based on an actual event, why would Woody Guthrie make up such a disgusting story?

It's a song about greed.

[shimma]

It's a song about greed.

I get that you didn't write it, I get that it's a song, and I get that it's about greed.

What I don't get is, is the whole copper-thugs-lock-a-bunch-of-children-in-a-room-on-Christmas-Day-and-burn-them-to-death-thing something that actually happened, or the product of Woody Guthrie's imagination?

[WorkInProgress]

I get that you didn't write it, I get that it's a song, and I get that it's about greed.

What I don't get is, is the whole copper-thugs-lock-a-bunch-of-children-in-a-room-on-Christmas-Day-and-burn-them-to-death-thing something that actually happened, or the product of Woody Guthrie's imagination?

No idea, but I would be more surprised if he made it up, instead of being inspired by an actual event.

[wordsmith]

It's about events related to the 1913-14 copper mine strike in Calumet, Michigan.

[shimma]

It's about events related to the 1913-14 copper mine strike in Calumet, Michigan.

OK, thanks.

That's so awful that that happened in this country. :mad:

[wordsmith]

I'd imagine that's why Guthrie wrote about it and popularized it as a protest song.