Financial questions are something of a taboo, I know, but we're good friends, right? Besides, we talk about politics and religion all the time, and we're still cordial with one another.
So if you don't mind my asking, what's your net worth?
$50,000? $100,000? More? Less?
Actually I don't much care, and I certainly won't judge. What I'm most interested in is simply this:
Did you think of a dollar amount? And, if so, why?
When you stop and reflect for a moment, isn't it rather appalling that we refer to the monetary value of a human being's portfolio as that human being's net worth?
I think that this unfortunate way of valuing ourselves--verbally equating the value of our lives with the value of our financial holdings--is the product of deeply misplaced values in our society. Far too often, we are encouraged to value money without reference to the sort of value that money truly has. Money, of course, is a medium of exchange, very useful, and valuable to us in many ways. But money is not valuable intrinsically. It is not valuable in-and-of-itself. There is no point in accumulating piles and piles of money and valuing those piles of cash for their own sake.
In fact, it's kind of sad to think of someone lying about, thinking about their money in this way. That person would be a miser. Possibly he would be miserable besides. But at the very least, he would simply be conceptually confused about the value of money. Misers, in the contemporary parlance, just don't get it.
Money is valuable as a means to an end. It is valuable precisely be it can be used to obtain, produce, facilitate, and preserve those things which are valuable in-and-of-themselves. Beauty. Justice. Moral virtues. Understanding. Pleasant experiences. Collaboration with others. (and so on...)
Despite the fact that money is valuable only as a means to an end, we very often treat money as the end-in-itself, with no investigation of the intrinsic values that lie beyond. Consider three very brief examples (there are many more):
1-Many children's games treat money as the final goal, thus giving a false impression that money is the end-in-itself rather than a means to a truly valuable end. Monopoly and Life immediately spring to mind.
2-Students are regularly told that a degree is necessary in order to get a good job (and make money), but rarely told that learning and understanding are intrinsically valuable.
3-And as adults we are told that our net worth can be calculated in dollars.
I think that this is morally troubling, even dehumanizing--particularly for the poorest among us.
So I've said my piece. And now I want to ask you a small favor:
Think of your net worth in terms of something other than U.S. dollars. Think of it in terms of gallons of olive oil consumed (olive oil is quite healthful, you know) or in terms of years spent as a baseball coach or in terms of dozens of friendships that truly mattered. Encourage your friends and family and especially your children to do this too.
The value of my life (an introduction):
--Seven years as a father.
--(Approximately) 1700 students taught.
--Twelve national parks visited.
--Three unpublished short stories that I'm proud of.
--One invasive blackberry bramble destroyed.
...etc.
If you don't mind my asking, what's your net worth?