The Idea of Wealth

Money makes the world go round.

Scientifically false, yet metaphorically makes sense. Since my friends and I are starting to do the whole "adulting" thing, money has become more of a thought circling around our heads. From our job to our budgeting to our investments, all of it has become issues we take more seriously as we approach financial independence with more mindfulness.

But honestly, I have a lot of opinions when it comes to our wealth. How exactly do we define it? Does it have to be purely monetary? What does it mean to be wealthy and prosperous? Yes, I know it's such a philosophical question to dive into, but it's what shapes our society today. And there's a lot to think about.

Value system: Purpose or Wealth?

Society breeds capitalistic mindsets, unfortunately. I can go on a huge rant around capitalism and its flaws but that's not the discussion for today. Actually, it is lol but I won't go into the economics of it all.

In my opinion, by breeding capitalistic mindsets, society has tagged value onto people by the jobs that they do and the money they make. Traditionally, that is how success is defined. Just look at how celebrities are praised. How they are put at a higher pedestal when they have accolades, or whether they've become the first ___ billionaire. We've been conditioned by our environment to find worth in people through this criteria. And is that okay? I don't really think so. I think it's an unconscious signal that tells us people deserve our respect only if they achieved something.

That mindset, I believe, creates changes in our value system. In particular, we put wealth over purpose. Or put wealth equivalent to purpose, where making a lot of money is our purpose. After all, we've all heard the saying "money can't buy you happiness". And to be honest, in this society, that's quite untrue. Money, can buy you happiness, because it's usually a means to an end. We need money to buy a dream house, to build a family, and achieve many other goals in our life.

But these days, has money instead become the end? Modern society has created a very transactional economy where value is equivalent to money. A long time ago, for example, a king wouldn't sell his castle regardless of the monetary value it can bring. It's a sign of dishonour and selling one was just unthinkable. But now, people sell properties all the time. Heck, I mean, you can even buy a castle if you wish. Transactions are possible for anything. And anyone. It's a dangerous philosophy to instill on our society. Will value only be seen from the transactions we make, not the purpose we create?

And if the line between purpose and wealth becomes blurred, what are the limits to our morality? There are many ways to make money, but does how we're making it align with our value system?

Let's use the billionaire example. You know the dream of many is to be a billionaire. Be famous, have a lot of money, be at the top. But how do you make the billions of dollars in the first place? A lot of billionaires exploit their workers and put them in harsh working conditions, and give them low pay and unfair treatment. And I don't even have to name drop. With just a quick Google search, you will see just how often this happens.

Essentially, the idea of being a billionaire is overplayed. People look at the 10-figure number and go "wow, that person is successful. I want to be like that." But once you go beneath the tip of the iceberg, do you really? At the end of the day, being a billionaire means you hoard billions of dollars.

But at the same time, how realistic is it for us to be a billionaire? And how do people get there? There are many factors to take into consideration, but the bottom line is that the majority of billionaires already start off in spoon-fed families and have a huge amount of inheritance.

Being a millionaire in the hundreds is a much more straightforward goal. But a billionaire? Our mind actually cannot comprehend how long it takes to reach that string of nine zero's. Let's say you make a million dollars (in USD) a year. That takes a THOUSAND years to reach ten figures. Let's even say you make ten million. That takes a century. Even a hundred million a year would take a decade for you until you become a billionaire. Being a billionaire essentially encompasses being of rich standing in the first place, having fat inheritance, and then hoarding all of that money for yourself.

And is it possible to be a billionaire ethically? That is an ideal world that I wish to see. But being a billionaire, as of now, is already an unethical concept to begin with. Re-defining that means that we have to re-define what morality and ethics stand for as well.

Our financial privilege

Now, let's go down to the concept of privilege. A lot of us are privileged, and most of my readers are as well. We have access to all our basic needs, go to a good school and we get to splurge on our interests and hobbies. That in itself is something we are fortunate enough to do. In our position, we sometimes have mixed reactions. Should we be grateful for our privilege? Or feel bad about being given a position we did not necessarily achieve in the beginning.

These feelings are two sides of the same coin, really. For one, we can be grateful for our privilege (not only can, but I think we should!). Because of the hard work done by our family, and even a culmination of our own as we progress through life, we can appreciate the opportunities given to us. But it's also understandable that we feel bad or even ashamed about it. We didn't have a choice as to what kind of standing we will be born in in the first place. But how can we leverage this position then for the better? If we don't want to keep the money to ourselves, we can always give back to communities. Making donations, volunteering, and many more. There is power in our wealth, and it is important not to abuse that power and use it for the better of society. God knows that there's already enough people in power exploiting the capitalist system. We should not use them as an example.

Ah, yes, and sustainability

I for one do advocate having a healthy financial life and building your wealth. I think it's great to see how your work pays off. After all, having more wealth means more access to goods we want to buy, and the services we want to have. But our ability to achieve our purpose also becomes easier, and it's especially important, because as we grow wealthier, consumerism can become more dangerous. Many of our choices will create direct impact to society and the environment. And it's a hard pill to swallow, but these bigger, luxurious brands, are known to have quite a harmful impact towards the environment. Prada, Louis Vuitton. Big names, famous with consumers, but infamous with nature. Unfortunately, not many people will care about this fact. At the end of the day, as I mentioned, people measure value in our wealth rather than purpose, and those status symbols are a way to showcase that.

I'd like to believe, however, that our generation is becoming more aware and eco-conscious (yay!) Sustainable stores on fashion, lifestyle and more are becoming more accessible in Hong Kong as well.

But it is definitely an expensive lifestyle to live. Ironically, it's another form of luxury, and either way, you will be spending loads of money. But the bottom of the line is, which lifestyle do we choose to pool our wealth in? And how can we maximize its benefits, but also minimize the cost?

I'm not saying it's a bad thing if we live life by the brand. I do advocate for the "you do you" mentality, but I do encourage people to think about what living by a brand means to them. And if there is a way for them to minimize the impact it can bring to the environment and to communities. Can we carbon offset a Lamborghini? Yes, we can. We can also choose a Tesla. It's both sustainable and definitely a big flex.

Can we thrift luxury fashion and upcycle them? Yes, we can. There are so many gaps we can bridge between luxury and sustainability, and it absolutely does not have to be mutually exclusive.

Wealth is a complex concept, but at the end of the day, I do believe in treating ourselves, and there's no problem spending that money for ourselves! But we should be mindful of how we perceive money, how we earn it, save it, and ultimately, spend it. All of these behaviours affect the economy and environment, and it's what makes or breaks the flaws of capitalism today. We have the power to define what it is we want to be and what change it is that we want to make.

So Happy Lunar Year of the Tiger! Let's continue to thrive prosperously and mindfully!