Sunday, November 27, 2022

What money can buy and what it can't


This morning I was listening an interesting documentary on BBC World Service -- The reluctant millionaires. 

It's about the super-rich people -- mainly in the United States -- who are campaigning against the wealth they themselves possess. 

They are mostly people who are born rich, and have remained / grown rich because of the environment in which they have been in. 

However, they aren't quite happy with the financial system which allows the rich to get richer, at the cost of others who don't have as much money as they have, making the latter become poorer. They have formed a group - Patriotic Millionaires.

The BBC documentary, which focusses on wealth inequality, is presented by Abigail Disney, filmmaker and multimillionaire heiress to the Disney empire. 

Bringing in personal insights, she explores the present skewed distribution of money, the harm it does to the society, and what can be done to improve the situation.

The 50-minute programme is available online.

WEALTH IS IMPORTANT

We need money - for basic necessities like food, clothing, and shelter; and for minimum comforts and good physical and mental wellbeing that make our lives worth living.

We work in order to get money. We change jobs so that we get more money.

How much money is enough money? 

No one knows, because it varies from person to person. What is one individual's luxury is another one's necessity.

WHAT WEALTH CAN BUY AND CAN'T 

But we know why we need money. We also know that money can't get us many critical things in our lives.

Money can get us material comforts, but not peace of mind and happiness.

Money can buy us food, but not wellbeing and good health.

Money can build relationships, but not affection and love.

(Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay)