In a time dominated by the escapades of bankers and financial institutions mismanaging money in the name of capitalism and a free market (aka personal greed), I feel it is important to ask ourselves what capital should we invest in?
After all, in the truest sense money is not worth anything until it is spent, it allows the accumulation of goods and services but does not directly provide them. This makes money incredibly useful, but it does not make money an end in itself. So why do people go to such lengths to accumulate it? I think part of the answer lies in the fiscal centric view of modern society. Capitalism and the free market have instilled in all of us a sense that the purchasing power of money is unlimited; if you accumulate enough money, you will be able to have anything you want. Well, this view is at the very least simplistic and this enforced rhetoric of the modern age has led to this being the single standpoint of the majority, it is so insidious a view that it pervades our mindset at a subconscious level. If you sit and think about the things you do day to day, money is at the centre of almost all of them in one way or another.
So what are the alternatives? For a start, the capital gain in anything that cannot be brought by money is a possible alternative, to name some of the major ones; happiness, family, work-life balance, stress, and health are all up there. Well, I am sure there are many of you who will immediately link at least some of these to money, therefore proving my earlier point about our subconscious societal paradigm! But each of these aspects of our lives individually, as well as several other capital gains socially such as a sense of community and culture all have an impact on our lives. They are all worthy of measurement, whether on a deeply personal level or in a more finite manner, as they all contribute capital, in the sense of a net gain to the individual or community or nation, indeed Bhutan stands as an example of an entirely different GDP measurement, that of happiness of citizens, that may not see Bhutan becoming an economic superpower, but certainly sees a better sense of community, better welfare and lower crime rates than many other nations.
My point ultimately is that we are limiting ourselves severely by looking purely at the financial aspects of our lives, there needs to be an acknowledgement that we are a multifaceted species with diverse and complicated needs, not all of which can be answered by money. We are unlikely to move far from capitalism as our socio-political ethos, but we can certainly accumulate wealth in ways that do not involve money, and we would be better off all round if this was more widely acknowledged. After all, some of the happiest people I know have virtually no money at all, which I feel put the financial crises in some sort of context. If you feel down in the mouth about money, go into the community and smile at people instead, you contribute a net gain to the community from the moment you start to do it, and you receive a net gain every time someone smiles back. What’s more, you enrich the personal and the collective humanity of us all and it costs you nothing financially, your impact is direct and immediate and the interest you receive in human terms can last a lifetime.
So go out into your local community and put a little humanity back into the economy by showing that wealth extends beyond money.
Shevek Pring 