Why Money Can’t Be a Purpose
“My child will become a doctor or an engineer, it’s written in the stars”, said every Pakistani parent ever. Well, not every parent but you get the idea. We’ll see why our parents aren’t wrong (at least in their own head).
It’s 4 PM, and I get a call from a friend who is currently working at one of the biggest IT companies in Pakistan and she recently touched six figures on her salary. (It still hasn’t been a year since she graduated.) She told me something interesting. “I’m not happy”, she said. She looks around at these senior members who have been working at this same place for more than 10 years and she’s scared. She does not want to become stuck in one place; time’s passing by too fast. Maybe she’s thinking she wasn’t meant to be a computer scientist.
I asked her about her expectations when entering this field. She said she just wanted to help her family get whatever they wanted, she wanted money and now she had it but it didn’t really feel like a win. There was no inner satisfaction. Then, she told something that did bring her real joy. She told me that she had recently donated money for two causes: one for a student who couldn’t pay her semester fees and another for a cancer patient who couldn’t afford chemotherapy. And this, I told her how she should use her money. This is how you earn money not for the sake of money, but for the sake of good. And therefore, money is not evil, the people are. But are the people truly free? In their actions, in their morals? Let’s see.
Why do our parents want us to be doctors and engineers? Well, back in their day it was a very fine profession that did essentially pay all the bills because there were fewer engineers and doctors in the 1970s, this was a profession of pride as well. Well, we’re far from pride now, all’s that’s left now is the ego. Let’s just put aside the fact that there’s a lack of jobs in the market. Let’s see things at the individual level. I know for a fact that if something is forced onto me, I could never do it perfectly. So just imagine, these engineers and doctors in the field of work. The performance of engineers and doctors are plummeting.
Now, take a step back and try to see the big picture. There are thousands of sheep in the fields and there’s an infinite supply of grass. At the beginning of Time, the sheep used to eat just as much as they needed and they used to relax the rest of the time. Then, 1800 years later, one sly sheep realized that it could eat a bit more than what it needed. And then, another sheep noticed that, and another. Soon the sheep were eating more than they required. Now, two things happened: The sheep began to grow weak and frail from over-exertion and it was discovered that the infinite supply of grass wasn’t infinite after all. So when some sheep ate more, the other sheep couldn’t get enough for the day. So, some of the sheep ate well while the others died.
So I would like to ask the sheep that are reading this, are you ready to die for some more grass? I hope your answer is ‘no’ because otherwise, you’re not only killing yourself but also countless others. Well, there are two types of solutions to this problem: one is obviously the entire restructuring of the system (which is not our subject today); the second one is to reprogramme yourself to stay immune to the illness that the sheep had suffered: Excessive Consumerism.
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts, that’s your everyday definition from Wikipedia. Now, let me explain in layman’s terms. Consumerism will encourage you to buy the 50" TV instead of the 40" one. It will force your brain to associate success with a bigger house. It will associate coolness with those Jordans you got and it will tell you that you need a beautiful car to drive around so that people may notice you.
Now, obviously (and unfortunately), we live in a capitalistic country and consumerism drives the economy and there’s nothing wrong with dropping in on your wedding on a Mercedes but the one thing that we need to make clear is that more is not better. Money can buy you social security but not happiness. What it does is takes away the true essence of an object. A car’s purpose is to take you places, not look sexy or be an extension of your social class. The purpose of shoes is to give you comfort, not flash their big logos.
Now, you could say that I paid more for those shoes so they must be more comfortable. That’s what they want you to think. And as dumb as we are, we believe it. And don’t even get me on the food. We spend thousands on an unhealthy fast food meal, the same food that’s gonna put our cholesterol up in a few years, but that’s okay ’cause the media makes it look delicious so it must be. What the argument of this whole discussion is that there’s no difference between a watch that costs Rs.300 or one that costs Rs.3,00,000. You need to look at the function of it and skip the extra bullshit.
Thousands of people are dying of hunger, they are dying from lack of shelter, they don’t have warm clothes in winter and we’re all here, in our middle-class bubble, enjoying life. Since when did living modestly go out of fashion? All this show of wealth will not matter when you’re on your deathbed, but do you know what will matter? Let’s talk about that.
Unlike us, there are good people in the world, who are working tirelessly to help those in need, to help the less fortunate but sadly, all they lack is funding. Although, this should be the job of the government (but sadly capitalism won’t allow that) it shows the strength of the people when they come together to help the world in the form of NGOs and volunteering. Do it this way, earn as much as you want and once you’re tired of looking at your money, decide to help one person, just one person. And trust me, by God, you’re gonna realize why you were put on this earth. This is our purpose in all its entirety, to help fellow beings, and this does include animals as well, spend your life in the service of all living things.
You could definitely help in other ways as well. You could work for the betterment of science to create better solutions for human beings; better cures, low-cost houses, improved models of education. Do whatever you want but the basic principle should stay the same, work with compassion because that is what makes us human. That is how money should be used. When you earn more, be happy, because you’re able enough to, maybe, help more people than before. Lead a meaningful life, a life that will have changed multiple lives, not just your’s. And do it before it’s too late. Godspeed.
