Open Mike: 'Why Tempt Ye Me, Ye Hypocrites?'

Just a slight counterpoint to the previous post: We do need to remember that wealth doesn't actually cling to us past death, even though modern society has evidently decided it does. It doesn't actually cling to us even in life. The Buddha said, "Gold and silver are like grains of sand that slip through my fingers, as if it were nothing." Ethan Nichtern elaborates: "In life, we are all wandering around in circles, thinking that our next stop will be exactly what we have always been looking for. But we never arrive—it’s an illusion of an oasis. It is the same thing with materialism: The idea that 'If I get the right stuff, I will finally feel at home.' But we can never acquire enough stuff."

Except I'm sure he wasn't thinking of a GFX 50R when he said that. If I were to get one, surely I would achieve nirvana. I don't mean the group.

But other than that, Ethan—and Buddha—might be right.

1 Timothy 6:10 reminds us, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Which clearly recommends that we refrain from loving money. Jesus, when the wily Pharisees tried to trap him by asking him whether it was okay to pay taxes, asked whose picture was on the coins. When they replied it was Caesar's, Jesus said, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." This seems to imply that Jesus was recommending that the symbolic tokens of the power structure belonged to them anyway, so why fight it? And that the material realm and the spiritual realm are separate. But it's open to interpretation. Jesus isn't always perfectly clear with his advice about worldly things.

Jesus also said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." That seems pretty clear to me. I once joked to a friend that this is an ironclad logical proof that either Pat Robertson is going to hell, or he doesn't believe what the Bible says. It's either A or B; there is no C. Traditionally, the position of Christianity was that true acolytes turned their backs on material wealth and took vows of poverty. Both Buddhist and Christian monks were not allowed to own money or seek it. In light of which, the evangelical project over the past half century of turning Christianity into a cult of materialism is...curious.

The essential activity for humans, in any event, seems to be trade, not wealth. Barter preceded cash. What we trade is actually not as important as the ritual and the symbolism—consider the price of Manhattan, or the current craze of exchanging vast sums of money for rectangles of canvas with oil paint dabbed on them. That makes sense only because we've decided it does. It's the interaction that's essential. We traded before we invented money as a convenience to help us trade. Gifting is included; tribal cultures, the essential ancestral form of human groups, have, or had, core customs of gift exchange, on which social status partly depended. Gift-giving raised the standing of the giver, and as a utilitarian practical matter helped keep socially divisive inequality from getting out of hand.

Taking the contrary position, Marek Cieslik noted that "...we can't make spiritual progress if our material needs aren't met...the wealthier we are the more we can help others and devote more time to spiritual practice." He quotes Abraham Lincoln: "You can’t help the poor by being one of them."

Is money itself evil? "We need to have some kind of system for measuring how we consume, produce, and share," continues Ethan Nichtern, "So there will always be money in any complex society. And any human who wants to pay the rent has to learn the rules of budgeting. But it’s not just a necessary evil. Money can also be spiritual or divine, by powering whatever positive activity you want to engage in."

Aha! That there's my GFX 50R loophole right there!

I wonder if I'll be able to take it with me?

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Ray L Hudson: "That 'eye of needle' thing. There's a story about translations, 'eye of needle' referring to a low gate in ancient cities, camels having to get on their knees to enter.... If true, changes the commonly understood meaning of Jesus's saying. So I'm just saying...."

KeithB replies to Ray: "The idea that the 'eye of the needle' referred to a gate did not come along for maybe 900 years, and there is no evidence for it. The whole idea appears to be a way to soften the saying."

MikeR: "Quoting Jack Benny, 'If I can't take it with me, I won't go!'"

"And to borrow from Kurt Vonnegut, who was himself quoting (if I recall correctly) Kin Hubbard, 'It's no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.'"

Comments

[KeithB]

There is a bit more to Jesus' camel comment: The disciples are astonished since they equated wealth with God's blessing. They asked "Who, then, can be saved?" and Jesus replied that "With God, Nothing is impossible".

The take away is that A rich man can't be saved by his own effort, it takes the power of God (and Jesus' sacrifice).

BTW, I highly recommend Sarah Ruden's new translation of the gospels. You really get a feel for Jesus as a person with the wordplay and language.

[robert e]

Regarding trade, this $1.36 million pixel may be its apotheosis:

https://artreview.com/crypto-artist-pak-single-grey-pixel-nft-sold-for-1-36-million-dollars/

But you may be onto something: maybe it's best to regard money as a lubricant for that primal human activity. Like other lubricants, having or using too little or too much can lead to bad outcomes.

[Nikojorj]

One more loophole for your heaven-sent GFX50R : it is said that 'the needle's eye' was the informal name of a small gate to Jerusalem.

In french, we got a saying L'argent ne fait pas le bonheur (money can't buy happiness) but the consensus among poorer people is that it is a rich man's saying. It's easier to be happy when you're not doubting about the existence of your supper.

Thanks for writing! I'm always looking for your new posts.
May you be happy for many years, and preferably with enough GFX50R's! ;op

[ChrisC]

In questions of wealth, you have to consider what is real wealth. Many so called billionaires would struggle to go to the ATM and withdraw a large sum of cash. They simply don’t have it. All there trappings of wealth, the mansions, yachts, cars, space ships are mortgaged against the perceived value of their shareholdings.

And do stocks and shares have any real value? Are they just illusionary. As one of my favourite school teachers once said, the stock market and the insurance industry are both just upmarket forms of gambling.

[Simon]

"You can’t help the poor by being one of them." - and you certainly don't get rich by actually helping them.

From my lifelong observations it seems that amassing significant wealth is invariably achieved by conmen, swindlers and those with no conscience about being willing to exploit other people. The very last thing they want to do is give it away.

The drive for wealth and material success I see, notably in American Republicans and British Conservatives, always seems to contradict Jesus's teachings, as you mention. I have long wondered how people reconcile the gulf between their own actions with their Christian principles and beliefs.

[Greg]

Pro landscape photographer’s perspective after switching from full-frame to the Fujifilm X system https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2022/01/06/pro-landscape-photographers-perspective-after-switching-from-ff-to-aps-c

[Kye Wood]

How is it that people ever judge success by anything other than how happy a person is?

I'm packing my house and life up, to move to a different state.

With every box of rarely used possessions I pack, I feel freer. Like a series of weights are being removed from an invisible backpack that I've been wearing for most of my life.

I've distilled my life possessions down to their essence. One camera. One acoustic and one electric guitar. A handful of clothes and two pairs of shoes.

Turns out, I can pack every 'thing' I treasure into a single box. And if I was to lose that box? I'd still have everything - because I'm already happy.

[Hélcio J. Tagliolatto]

Man...thank you very much!
You found the most spiritually significant justification I was looking for to ease my conscience!

[John Krumm]

I'm almost done with the very good book, The Dawn of Everything, and one thing the authors make clear, human societies have been surprisingly diverse and complex throughout history (including hunter-gatherer societies).

[John Robison]

Material wealth is such a relative thing. In this country I would fit into the bottom 25% of income. Even so, world wide we are probably in the top 10%.
But we folks can waste money just as readily as the more wealthy.

[Yes it's all a matter of scale. --Mike]

[JimH]

Ringo Starr reputedly said "Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a Rolls Royce to ride around in looking for happiness."

So the three guys I saw outside R+D Restaurant on Montana Ave in Santa Monica last night standing beside one's white Rolls SUV (~$350K) were at the right place. R+D reputedly stands for "rich and divorced."

Aside: Contemplation of these topics needs to have a link to a discussion of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Here's one:
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4136760

[Not THAT Ross Cameron]

Hi Mike,

Passing on some info I read a few years back, relating to money and happiness - similar vein to your post, and a clarification on Nikojorj’s comment.
I couldn’t find the exact article, but this one will suffice:
https://www.thecut.com/2015/01/money-makes-you-less-sad-not-more-happy.html
In short, increasing money / income can help reduce unhappiness, while it won’t increase happiness. Also, this only holds true up to a point - I.e there’s a certain level of income at which a lack of money no longer causes unhappiness. I could probably phrase that better, but am in a bit of a rush.
All the best.