All that matters is gold

Sometimes, I feel like writing. It usually ends up being a rant. And I know I cannot write poems, not in English, and not anymore. So it's just prose, flowing, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. No style, no vocabulary. That's besides the point.

I question myself. Quite often. About the different choices I, and others, make in life. How things would have turned differently, maybe. And today, I'm thinking about money. Of course, my train of thought was... pointed towards that direction. Anyway.

I don't care much about money, never did. I'm a strong proponent of what HR people (hahaha) call work/life balance. You know, having a comfortable life and earning reasonable money? My dream job of sitting in a comfy chair, and doing nothing. Yet... Maybe I was wrong all along. When you aim for 80% on a test, you usually end up with 70%. Aim for 80k per year, you might end up with 50k. Why do we always aim for the average, or slightly above average? Knowing it is possible to achieve high, why aim for lower? Lack of ambition? Laziness? If there is a sin I can identify with, it'd be sloth, no arguing about that.

Here's an allegory I got told the other day, that I'll paraphrase slightly. What we see of an apple tree may be the trunk, the flowers and the apples. What matters to us is the fruit. But what determines the fruits? Of course, the external environment. But also, the roots. If the roots do not provide the nutrients needed, the apples will never grow red and sweet. Deep down inside of us, we have a philosophy about life. Those are our roots. If our roots tell us that we don't need money, then we'll never have money. I know that I have (some) potential. So does everyone I know. That potential just needs to be exploited, and that just needs motivation.

And in our society, all that matters is gold. Money is power. Power is money. Both combined make the one key to unlock the world. Tell me, what can't you achieve with money? You can use it for bad, but you can use it for good. You can keep it, you can give it. Give alms to the poor, like the Church. Or keep it deep in your vault, like the Church. There are very few limits. Love? Oh please, what is Love. Trivial, futile. If you have the money, you'll get the hot girls even at 60, as long as you're a sugar daddy. Or, like the people at work say, "cassonade" daddy. C'est comme sugar daddy, mais moins raffiné.

Maybe this is all very bitter. Or maybe I'm just starting to be practical. Or I pretend to be. Pretend to pretend.

Why be a man when you can be a success? ~ Bertolt Brecht