Chasing Shadows

Money is a source of misery for many and joy for few. Actually, I doubt it's truly a joy for anyone, for how can an agreed-upon value of nothingness bring any real joy? When we have it, we're frustrated, and when we don't, we're frustrated. Chewing on our nails as we wait for payday so we can buy all those useless things we don't need. So we can show all these people who don't give two fucks about us what we can afford. But are we then happier and complete? Of course not, we're then not only enslaved to money but also to the approval of people who don't care to approve of us or not.

There is the issue of external appreciation of self, and good luck overcoming that one. But the beauty of capitalism is that everyone can become abundantly successful if they work on it hard enough. Endless worry about money and consumerism for approval is not capitalism; that is taking primal fears and applying them to incorrect entities. As if people in communist countries didn't worry about money and the approval of others through consumerism. Custom license plates of the elite. Hard-to-come-by black market items. It's all part of the illusion that gives this idea—because it is only an idea—that money has some kind of intrinsic value or power.

But the value and power come from the people who use it and give it its value. If a beggar gives you EUR 20, you won't want it. But if your employer does, you will. You may complain about the low value, but you'll take it. If you hate your job, you won't enjoy the money you make as much. And if you love your job, you'll enjoy every penny. Or is this oversimplified?

Capitalism says no matter who you are, you can do great things in the world. Yet it's misunderstood as getting indebted as hell and buying endless useless stuff to show our neighbors—who can't stand us anyway—how awesome and successful we are. Capitalism is about building great things to improve the world.