Money is power. Never forget that.

Favorite quotations, etc.
steveo73
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by steveo73 »

Interesting thread. I'm really not a fan of the word power because to me it comes across as trying to control someone or something. I may just be talking semantics but that attitude is something that I have an aversion to.

In saying that I think money is important but having more isn't really important. I think you need a certain amount of money that is relative to your expenses but after that I think other things are much more important. Good friends and family and your health for instance are some things that to me are just as important as money.
Felix wrote:I always see it as buying yourself out of slavery.
I completely get this point. I view myself now as really in a state of slavery. I have a pretty decent job but I need that job. It will take me a while to get out of this situation.
jennypenny wrote:There is also an undercurrent of control in this discussion that makes me uneasy. I guess I subscribe to one of Tolle's arguments that control is an illusion that can make us unhappy. I don't think money gives us as much control over our lives as some here think it does.
This is to me an important point. Money helps some things but it doesn't help everything.
jacob wrote:Aren't you guys simply discussing the difference between freedom-from and freedom-to?
I'm not sure but I think that there is a chance of turning freedom-to into one expensive lifestyle which would leave me working for years just to afford my next holiday or fancy car.

James_0011
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by James_0011 »

Thanks, this is just what I needed to see. I almost took this route (poor academic), and really glad I found this site first.

James_0011
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by James_0011 »

jennypenny wrote:
Spartan_Warrior wrote:
Ego wrote:Not being under the power of other people is not the same as being free.
I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. To me, not being under the power of other people is exactly what freedom is. Can you clarify?
I won't answer for Ego, but I think once you take the red pill, you're free. The rest is just arranging your life to match your idea of what freedom should look like.
What do you mean by the red pill? serious question

wood
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by wood »

James_0011 wrote:
jennypenny wrote:
Spartan_Warrior wrote: I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. To me, not being under the power of other people is exactly what freedom is. Can you clarify?
I won't answer for Ego, but I think once you take the red pill, you're free. The rest is just arranging your life to match your idea of what freedom should look like.
What do you mean by the red pill? serious question
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_pill_and_blue_pill

Taking the red pill can be translated into looking at reality for what it is for you and arrange your life to fit it, as opposed to letting reality dictate your well being. An example related to ERE might be that you realize working 9-5 in office slavery is no life for you, and you find a way to game the system and create a better reality for yourself. Taking the blue pill in this case would be to make up some belief that this is the kind of life you should have, and continue to live in a fairy tale. Its about attitude.

TopHatFox
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by TopHatFox »

secretwealth wrote:But my life can be a warning to those who come afterwards, and if any twenty-something has had the patience to read this entire thing, I hope they read and remember this: money is power. Never forget that.
Sir, reporting for duty, sir! Thanks for sharing, another kick in the butt for me to elude not only the 9-5 consumption tread mill, but the often indentured pHD academia track.

slowtraveler
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by slowtraveler »

That resentment SW initially had to money is how I spent much of my teens. Thinking I was too good for money, that the financial system would collapse any day and an egalitarian, ecology-based society would arise as the norm.

I ended up earning decent money, partially out of luck, and feeling the rewards of this, realized money>academics while in college. By the time I found ERE, I knew money was very useful- I'd tried starting multiple businesses that all failed since I thought massive income from entrepreneurial endeavors were the only way to be free. Once I realized how modifiable expenses were, I realized a new kind of freedom.

I'm thankful I got this lesson early, and for all the wise souls showing us young ones the way. By 30, my dividends will exceed my expenses.

Aansar
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by Aansar »

riparian wrote:When I saw the title I was like, "did I make that thread?" LOL

Lately I've been coming to realize that money isn't just the power to have a place to live, options, security, etc, it's also the power to change society. Consider - I want to change a law. Am I better off getting a degree that will someday enable me to do research, or hiring a lawyer and researcher? I want homeless people in my city to have a warm place to sleep even if they don't fit into the religious rules of the shelter. Should I lobby the state for more funding and better rules, or buy an apartment building? With all that in mind, should I be getting an education or making money?
riparian, Same sort of view I also had. Anyway, must say its true Money has great value in our lives and we can't deny it. I am a traveller and often realized the importance of money in my life.

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fiby41
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by fiby41 »

Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart in ten years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who doesn't see the difference.
~Francis J Underwood

7Wannabe5
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Seems like the old stone building would have to be a mill attached to a stream if it is going to represent Power rather than something like Robust Fortitude.

Clarice
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by Clarice »

@fiby41 and 7wb5:

thank you for resurrecting this thread - fascinating. Money is definitely one of the forms of power with others being (in no particular order):
- health
- beauty (ever been young and cute and talked yourself out of a traffic ticket?)
- muscle power
- power that comes from a barrel of a gun
- skills (don't need money, can do it myself)
- and (going all the way back to OP) the power of social status (who stands and who runs to shake hands). In today's academia, though, from my observations, this power is largely fake. It's a game to keep those burdened with high IQ preoccupied.

Jason

Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by Jason »

Clarice wrote:
Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:40 am
- beauty (ever been young and cute and talked yourself out of a traffic ticket?)
God, I miss those days. Although I was more of a crier than a talker.

prognastat
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by prognastat »

@Clarice

Definitely agree, though I would say the boundaries can be quite fuzzy and exchange between some if very efficient and inefficient or even impossible in others.

- Money and health for example are quite closely tied in that the life expectancy gap between the poor and wealthy is rather large.
- Beauty is also tied to an extent, we have a certain genetic capacity for beauty, but money can definitely help in the form of being able to afford better nutrition, the time and money to either learn nutrition/exercise or to pay someone to help you with it(personal trainers, also helps with deficient willpower).
- Muscle power, if you lack it you can use money to have someone else use theirs.
- Skills, you can spend money for an education or reducing your income temporarily and going through a form of apprenticeship exchanging potential money for skills.

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fiby41
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by fiby41 »

Wealth of stocked food grains (food security)
Wealth of knowledge/skills
Wealth of accumulated capital/money
Wealth of progeny (children)*
Wealth of domesticated animals
Wealth of industry and courage (risk-taking)
Wealth of social relations
Wealth of primordial physical strength (muscle power)

These are the eight types of wealth personified by the eight forms of Lakṣmī (Octa/Aṣṭa-Lakṣmī)
At this juncture, only the first three levels have their altars open for my worship.

*Beauty, fertility, cuteness, youth are all means to this end.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6084&start=40#p153661

Stahlmann
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by Stahlmann »

jacob wrote:
Mon Aug 26, 2013 7:12 pm
I prefer to see the [human] world as governed by five rulebooks.
...
I started writing a book based on this idea, but I later found it wasn't terribly original/it had already been done.
books titles?

guitarplayer
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by guitarplayer »

jacob wrote:
Mon Aug 26, 2013 7:12 pm

[...]

War laws
Cultural laws
Legal laws
Financial laws
Natural laws

[...]
Adding what you cut out, just for the fun of it:

War laws - red / faustian
Cultural laws - blue / postfaustian
Legal laws - green / postmodern
Financial laws - orange / modern
Natural laws - purple / animistic (at the risk of someone frowning at this one, but hey Newton let God govern all the cogs)

Qazwer
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Re: Money is power. Never forget that.

Post by Qazwer »

fiby41 wrote:
Wed Jul 25, 2018 1:47 am
Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart in ten years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who doesn't see the difference.
~Francis J Underwood
I first looked at this and thought it must have been written prior to Kevin Spacey’ stall from power but then I realized it was written in 2018 and the allegations leading to being fired from being Francis Underwood was 2017-2018. The actor is financially stable (I think) with an awful reputation. Money is a much more stable form of power.

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