Power and Money
When we speak of addictions, we usually mean the most evident ones, which are obviously destructive. Alcohol, nicotine, drugs, gambling… Modern life has introduced another batch: the internet, the smartphone. What remain in the shadows are addictions to money and power, and yet they may have a very similar impact. They may, though they might not, as they are not inherently harmful.
Money, the fruit of our labour, allows us to live another day, month, year. Power should bring order to life. So when do distortions surface? Where is the boundary beyond which all inhibitions vanish?
According to a saying from the past, if you wanted to see someone’s true nature, you simply had to pour them a vodka or present them with riches. These two actions were believed to trigger the good or bad instincts in another person. To bring any hitherto carefully suppressed urges to the fore. This is an observation whose merit is hard to deny.
Large sums of money can change people. They can put wind in your sails and allow you to further the most noble of ambitions, yet they can also devastate a personality and ruin mental health. You need particular strength to be able to use money well. Powerful ethical foundations are key here, as they protect you against misguided decisions and, in consequence, against a fall. A simple and handy test is enough: if money tops your hierarchy of values, it is a clear sign that things have gone awry.
Big money takes time to adjust to. Perhaps what matters is the time it takes to accumulate wealth. When the process is distributed over years, you simply get accustomed to wealth. However, suddenly coming into a fortune is a shock to the system comparable to what you experience when leaping, overheated, into icy cold water. Some daredevils manage to leave the water unscathed, yet at times there might be no one left to bemoan the results.
If we keep track of the lives of those lucky souls who’ve won the lottery, we soon see that hardly any of them manage to multiply the fortune they came into. In most cases, they fling themselves into consuming goods that had previously been inaccessible to them, with just one, obvious outcome: a more or less spectacular bankruptcy.
When I returned from Germany with capital saved – not stunning perhaps, yet quite decent – there was one thing I knew: I mustn’t consume it, for consumption was not the reason why I had worked so hard for it. The instinct to use the money here and now is so very human, perhaps quite natural, yet should you want to achieve more, you need to know how to curb your instincts.
And so I didn’t squander the capital I earned with Horst. You may say that the money was probably too paltry to corrupt anyone. That’s possible. But the money I earned later didn’t change me either. Perhaps this is a matter of character, or perhaps a stroke of luck.
Money should be followed by the concept of development, fulfilment of a plan. After all, is that not the reason why we accumulate it? Still, the definition of money includes the phrase “means of payment”. Means. Not purpose!
Money offers a protective cushion to our decisions and their results: and that sense of security is a licence for more daring dreams and reaching even further. However, skilful use of capital requires a strong will and a crystal-clear plan.
It is very often the case that, undertaking various efforts on the road to wealth, we deny ourselves free time and opportunities to consume even a small fraction of the fruit of our work. What good is a villa with a swimming pool, if you have no time to use either?
However, power changes people even more profoundly than money.
Power acts like a drug, and you have to be resilient indeed not to feel that controlling people’s lives borders on physical pleasure. It goes without saying that money and influence follow power. However, anyone who has tasted it treats all the rest as pleasant perks. It’s then only power that counts.
“Controlling people’s lives”… doesn’t that sound spooky?
Power draws you into an addiction. You no longer reach for it for the money but to feel your might, somebody’s dependence on you.
Power begins to be absolutely sufficient.
But what will happen when the privileges ensuing from power come to an end? When someone who wielded it is forced to return to a normal life? Will they be capable of passing that test? Because this is a true test of your character. You can jump off a high horse gracefully, but you can also drop down, have a great fall, and never pick yourself up again.
Leaning against the wall of my house, I’m staring at the stars. I know that no wealth can match the splendour of the star-strewn skies and the arrangement of those twinkling lights depends on nobody’s signature, however flamboyant.
Flowing down from the space above the canopies of the trees is wisdom that teaches humility.
Such views and such lessons are the building bricks of happiness.