Money Isn’t the Root of All Evil, Said the Minister
A new understanding of money empowered me to make a lot more of it (without the guilt)
You may have played this game before: You can be the wealthiest, most talented, smartest, or most attractive person in the world entire world. Which would you choose?
This was always a fun conversation topic amongst my college friends. We would ask clarifying questions to explore the logic of the game: Would we need to sacrifice other traits in exchange for being the best at whichever we choose? Would my existing attributes change based on my choice? Wouldn’t I automatically become the wealthiest if I was the smartest, most talented, or most attractive because my skills would also be lucrative?
As we reasoned through the finer details, we would all inevitably settle upon being the wealthiest. We decided that with money, we could buy or otherwise compensate for our other traits. It always seemed to take a while for us to admit that, though. There was apparently something off-putting about wanting to make a lot of money, especially to us socially conscious, liberal-arts types who prided ourselves on a love of intangibles — of learning over looks, doing good over making money, and wisdom over wealth.
