The whole world seems to be motivated by money. The emotions that revolve around money are dividing us and stimulating “unhealthy” competition. Disputes about money have already divided countless families, partners and friends. We all want to be rich. But how much money do I need to be rich? And if I get rich, what will be my next goal?
Nobody wants anybody to know how much money one has in his account or what amount of money is on one’s paycheck. This information is strictly classified in companies among employees. Why is it so annoying that someone has more money? After all, they’re just bank notes or bank account numbers and they don’t really mean anything by themselves. Yet we are obsessed with them.
In ancient times we have rivaled who is physically stronger. Today this feature is represented by money. The amount of money represents power, strength, status but also livelihood and shelter. Our society is set to rivality and benchmarking mode where money is clearly one of the main criteria for evaluation and that is why this topic is so sensitive.
Jaroslav Dušek and the Banana Story:
“The European anthropologist did a survey with the African tribes and conducted an experiment with the children. He drew a line on the ground and laid a bowl of bananas farther away. He put the children behind the line and said: “Children, when I say 3, 2, 1 and clap my hands, you will run as fast as possible to the bowl and who will be there first wins the right to eat the whole bowl, okay?” As he did the children took their hands together and ran together and ate it together. He wondered what they had done and asked why they had solved it so unusually. They replied, “What kind of joy would the one have if he ate all of the bananas by himself?” In our society, we would say” “Great joy.”
Money is a tool. It is the middleman of exchange and makes life much easier.
As any instrument, it can be used for any purpose but it means nothing by itself. We can use them for help, development, or technological progress but we can also buy drugs or a clean criminal record. On the other hand it is a thing that represents value and thus becomes the subject of war and dispute, so it is “evil”. But the truth is that the real cause of evil are human instincts, emotions and the struggle to compete. Indeed, man loses context, values and the vision of the world as a whole and instead sees only himself and his “wealth.”
In everyday life I chase after work and money. Money represents survival for me.
Most of the time I have jobs that mentally exhaust me and I start to have a need for freedom, deep breath and nature. So I’m putting on my shoes and going. In nature, I feel calm, energy and the feeling that everything will be alright. I feel the nature healing and energizing me. As I go I think that what I really need is clean air, water, green nature (that is nutrients, shelter and the possibility of movement), a pleasant society of people, animals and freedom (discovering, creating, experimenting, playing).
If a person mainly cares about profit, money and status, he may sacrifice much of his time to work he does not enjoy and spend the money earned on things he does not need. This consumer lifestyle will not lead to life satisfaction.
At school they teach us that the main goal of business is profit and human labor is a production factor as well as machines and land. They teach us that land (natural resources) as a production factor is unlimited.
Adult cow is classified as fixed asset and small calves are goods. Human labor productivity is calculated and willingness to work depends on cash reward. When you go to a company interview they ask you how much money do you want but they will never tell you how much they will give you because it is another strategy (based on employee competition) – how to choose a competent person for the least money.
Yes, it makes sense in economic terms – performance, productivity and, most importantly, profit – otherwise nobody would start the business, right? But what about the ordinary human aspect? Employees do not want to be just a number they do not want to exchange their precious time for a few crowns. We also see that natural resources are becoming limited.
If companies operate for profit only and look at workers and nature as a factor of production, they will put excessive pressure on their employees, destroy and consume natural resources without renewal and they do not have responsibility for pollution or employee’s burnout. Due to the fact that nowadays large multinational corporations have the greatest power (not governments) it would be fair that they should take appropriate responsibility along with their power. We see huge brands (logos, names, factories and large buildings) that we hardly change. But these companies have owners who have a face and a name.
It is necessary to know your specific goals and to consider money only as a intermediary for achieving them otherwise one who is chasing money for money will never have enough (like companies).
Perceive yourself as part of society and the environment instead of blindly tracking what business marketing tells you to do. We want to work for companies whose plan for next year is not just to increase their profits by x%, but also positive social and environmental impact. Imagine a world where people are at the forefront of business and employee satisfaction, building a healthy social environment or restoring the environment are among its goals. Finally, companies are also a community of people, so when you change your behavior, you change them.
