Thinking about wealth

[Snail]

I had a bad experience today. Nothing earth-shattering but something which left me re-evaluating myself. You see, 12 years ago I decided not to be financially ambitious and declined a very good job offer. Instead I became a nightshift worker and lived in a small flat. This small flat turned into an even smaller tent. I intentionally became homeless because i discovered I could live on very little. I thought I discovered what true wealth was. Eventually I moved back into a flat and then finally a van.

Life's a game and wealth's a way of measuring it. How you view wealth alters reality.During my accounting degree, I learned that Control is often more important than Ownership. A company can attempt to hide an asset by giving up ownership. But if it retains control... Similarly, rich people often give much of their wealth to third parties. They relinquish ownership, but again retain control. The rich see wealth differently than ordinary folk.

I checked my bank account a couple of days ago. It was missing £100 until I remembered my silver order. 3 silver maple coins are sitting on my shelf but they still don't feel as real as the money in my Bank account!

So why for christ's sake did I write the above nonsense into a forum I have barely contributed to, at 3.00 in the bloody morning. Truth is, I'm a chronic insomniac. My sleeping pattern is always trying to flip.

But also, because life's going to get really difficult. Not just physically, as in hardship caused by fall in living standards or threat of violence etc.., but emotionally too. People are going to be squeezed horizontally and stretched vertically. The gap between rich and not rich will increase. In the future, it won't be enough to just accept the basics of food, shelter, family, and friends. True wealth is more than this. I don't know what but it's not mere simplicity.

[jonny2mad]

its a interesting point Ive lived in a tent and had a very minimal existence, but doing that in a rich society is one thing doing it when people around you are being squished is another .
I'm concerned about my friends, would I be better off making a bunch of money, or get what will be valuable in the future to try to help them

[PS_RalphW]

Money is just a promise of future services or ownership of artefacts.

The silver coins are a slightly more reliable promise in the current conditions than electrons in the bank, that is all.

It is very easy to live cheaply when surrounded by wealth. I live in a wealthy village, I have a heap of electrons in the bank, yet my kids wear the cast-off clothes from some of the families in the village who struggle to make ends meet. (we pay them for the clothes, and pass on what we don't use). It is the people who are struggling who feel they need to spend to show they are as good as the wealthy.

It is all about social status and self confidence. I do not need social status, certainly not the distorted view of status through consumption that is spread by the media.

Living in tent would be uncomfortable and inconvenient, but as long as I am healthy it would not worry me. We do not stay healthy for ever, and having those electrons in the bank, or something more reliable, certainly takes a long term worry off my mind. Also I have kids and a wife in poor health to consider.

[emordnilap]

I had a bad experience today. Nothing earth-shattering but something which left me re-evaluating myself.

Re-evaluation is good; in fact, excellent. Especially discussing it with partners and close friends.

No clues for us as to the bad experience though?

The gap between rich and not rich will increase.

That's the plan, big time; it's happening now, right in the middle of a so-called 'recession'.

In the future, it won't be enough to just accept the basics of food, shelter, family, and friends. True wealth is more than this. I don't know what but it's not mere simplicity.

But it is the core to life. Sustenance, warmth, trusted people. With those, you can enjoy what life throws at you.

Snail: how resourceful do you believe yourself to be?

[Snail]

The bad experience was inconsequental in the grand scheme of things. It just made me think and reflect. I'm a resourceful person, so I´ve no specific fears for myself about the future. I'll survive, get a little meaner, and adapt. Seeing others, especially family, getting squished does affect me tho. What's shocked me is the increasing anger and bitterness I'm feeling towards certain types of people and organisations. Very out of charcter but such feelings willl need dealing with by letting go. The past is the future, and i & others need to relearn how to live in an increasingly unequal world.

[kenneal - lagger]

Wealth measured on this forum is completely different to wealth measured in society as a whole. As Ralph said, the electrons in the bank hold little store here. Real wealth is reliable shelter, food and water in an uncertain future.

The wealthy here are those who have some land that they can grow food or fuel, or do both, on. The really wealthy are those who have a house on, or near, that land. Add on a circle of local friends and relatives and you're extremely wealthy.