MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - interesting question?

> > I heard this recently (I am sure we have all heard it at one point). Just give
> > everyone 1 million dollars and the world would be a better place.
> >
> > I will change it up a bit. Give everyone 1 billion (hey if we are giving out crazy
> > amounts lets do it right). What would happen?
> >
> > I have some ideas. What do you you guys think would happen?
> >
> > Keep in mind whatever you do everyone would probably be doing about the same thing.
>
>
> We live in a commercial capitalist society that educates us to associate the value of
> life with how much money we have, the things we can buy, the places we live, the
> clothes that we wear. They do this not because it enriches life in any significant
> way, they do it because we all grow, programmed to consume and feed money back into
> the machine. it preserves the status quo and allows the people and corps in control
> to remain so.
> Take away all of the smoke and mirrors, though and the value of life has very little
> to do with money. Other than the security it brings in not having to worry about food
> and shelter, virtually everything else we value is derived from what we are doing and
> who we are doing it with. Some of my happiest memories go all the way back to when I
> was a student, living on virtually f**k all and time spent with the wife and kids.
>
> Looking back on most of your happy memories will evoke situations you spent with
> friends and family, children and the like. Lifes happiest memories are rarely allied
> to material things because the reality is we need very few of them. Just a lot of
> people are raised to associate material wealth with happiness, yet they largely get
> more miserable the older they get without really knowing why. Its the journey that's
> fun, if you're born into money and grow without anything to strive for, then material
> wealth is exposed for the pointless, hollow and non life affirming thing that it is.
> There is afterall only one direction left to go from the top of the mountain.
>
> If you woke tomorrow to find yourself the only soul left on earth, you could have
> access to, and use absolutely anything you wanted, you could drive the best cars,
> live in the finest houses, eat the best food, fill your life with every conceivable
> luxury, what value would it have? how much would you enjoy yourself? how long could
> you enjoy yourself for without anyone to share the experience with or view your
> achievements?
>
> So it makes no difference if everyone is equally wealthy or equally poor. In terms of
> life it has absolutely no meaning whatsoever, people who live and enjoy life will
> still do so and those who don't still won't. Your access to 'stuff' is irrelevant.