You've Made Enough Money

They say that the love of money is the root of all evil.

Does that mean that money is evil? Does that mean that you are righteous if you are broke? Does it mean you are evil if you are wealthy? Or does it mean, simply, that if you use your whole heart pursuing riches, it leaves no room for anything or anyone else and the pursuit of money consumes your very being?

We are commanded to work "by the sweat of our brow" to eat bread. The great thing about societies is that you don't have to make everything you use. If you provide a good/service that is of use to someone else, they either trade their unique goods/services or they give you money for your good/service. You can either take the money and purchase another necessary good/service, or you continue to provide your good/service and barter with others. That is actually how societies have been functioning, probably, since the beginning of time.

Let's fast-forward to today. The same principles apply. If you work, you are rewarded. If you work hard, you earn a great reward; if you don't work hard, your reward is not so great. There are certainly some examples of not working hard and reaping great rewards, and likewise, people working very hard yielding small rewards. Either way, generally, you get as much as you give.

Let's say, as a young man, I learn these principles. If I go to school and work hard, I can get good grades and make it into a decent college. If I work hard at my studies, that can lead to a good starting job. If I get a good starting job, that can pave the path to either working my way up a corporate ladder, or gaining the knowledge and experience necessary to start a business of my own. Whichever path you choose, why do you want to work your way up the ladder or start your business??? MONEY! Hopefully you have chosen something you enjoy doing that makes you money, but most people realize that you need money to eat, to provide shelter, to have clothes, to heat/cool your house, to go to the movies, to buy cool video games, etc. Most people also realize that the harder they work, the more money they potentially can make, the more things they can buy/have/do.

Now, I understand that there are some people out there fighting against the evils of "consumerism", but that is another blog for another time. I'll just say that buying things is good.

Now, here in America, since the foundation of this great nation, we have been operating under the belief that a "free market" system is the best way to get the best ideas and the best products the human mind can imagine. As long as you have an idea (or are willing to help someone with their idea), you are free to make as much as the "market" will pay you. If that is $12,000 per year or $12,000,000 per year, that is what the market decides. If you are a giant company and are paying your executives a bajillion dollars a year and that is too much, than you possibly will go out of business and will need to adjust your executive pay accordingly. On the other hand, if you are paying your executive $50,000 per year and you are coming in dead last in relationship to your competition, you will probably need to invest more into the leadership of your company.

Which brings me to what really boiled my blood today. The President of the United States of America came out today and said, "at some point, you've made enough money."

That's right, folks; the leader of the most prosperous nation in the history of mankind, the leader of the land of the free and the home of the brave, the leader of the one place on the planet where freedom is possible for man, thinks you have a limit. In a land where the impossible is possible, where people have flocked for decades to enter in at our golden gates, and the sky is the limit; we have just been told that there is a limit. That we should cap our usefulness and only work so hard to make what someday down the road a government bureaucrat tells us is enough money.

Now, he didn't put a limit yet on what is enough. I imagine it is more than the three or four million a year he makes (who really knows). But whatever amount our government might come up with as "enough" is wrong. Even if it is a million billion jillion dollars; how DARE you ever tell an American that he has limited potential? How DARE you ever tell someone that they are making too much money? Last time I checked, this is the United States of America where the President can NOT tell me what I can and can't do. The President is merely a check on congress and a leader of the military.

I would really like to hear what you think about the President telling us that at some point, you've made enough money!