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"Wealth is evidently not the good we're seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else."
~Aristotle

Just started my reading for Econ 461, Economics of Development. Much different from the normal macro micro econometrics classes I've taken so far. Probably the first Econ class that I can take voluntarily without counting the disastrous 411 where I don't think I learned anything except to avoid Professors with strong Italian accents...

But I digress. Seeing how this is an intro passage of about 30 pages that I'm reading, I'm not entirely sure what I am to take away from it, but this passage did remind me of countless arguments and thoughts that I've had with people over the years over what money really means to us.

We take so much for granted. We take our ability to turn on the tap and have clean, sanitary water to drink as a right, rather than a privilege. We do groceries with no thought about budget, or cost, rather picking items that we want, rather than worrying about whether there will be enough money to last the month. We pull up to gas stations, taking the car anywhere we want to. It's all disposable.

The world we live in is one inhabited by people like us. We seek the familiar and safe, who would voluntarily move to sub-saharan Africa? You'd be considered mad to. When we go to foreign countries that may be less developed, we seek the little comforts of life that is a norm to us. No, we demand it. A hot shower, clean sheets, familiar foods. We're always looking to recreate the little niche of comfort that we come from.

Money sure can't buy you happiness, but without it, we'd sure be a lot more unhappy. Once we've achieved a certain way of life, we continue to grasp for more. The ideal in our own minds will probably be never matched by reality, because we continue to alter that ideal. Envy, definitely our undoing. Always seeking for shinier, brighter stuff.

We've always been taught that being materialistic is bad. Yet nothing draws us more to consumer goods than the advertisers play on the basic greed that is as human a trait as any will be. Kudos to those who don't feel like they need more, that they want to upgrade objects they own in whatever way. We choose jobs by pay, we strive for greater disposable income so we can buy the latest branded bag/shoe/gadget. The more I'm entangled in the idea that I will need to start work soon, the more I cringe away from it, because I am expected, and expect of myself that I will find a job that pays well. And if I know myself well enough I will be continually in jobs I have absolutely no interest in just for the benefit of pay and perceived status. That scares me.

It's easy to say follow your ambitions! Do what you love. Well what do you do when you don't know what you love?

People like to play with hypothetical situations..."Say you had all the money in the world, but had to give up everything that meant something to you."
Why is it that there's always some sort of a trade-off or ultimatum. Is it selfish to want everything, or is it just some inherent balance in the Universe that tells us we can't have it the way we want it. You can't have everything you want, is probably a phrase we've heard when we're a 5 year old kicking and screaming in the aisles coz mum won't buy you the latest barbie/transformer doll.

What happens when you're grown up and have agency. Then, can you have what you want?

But this is where it gets all a little bit more abstract, that doll turns into a house, or a car. Not too different from that doll at age 5, just on a larger scale with an older age to match. Things don't really change.