We need more people not working.
I wholeheartedly agree, and mean to join that august group pronto, as soon as my investments in Q, SONS, and IN allow.
Leisure time, provided it it not accompanied by poverty, is the true measure of wealth.
The ability to hit the links, play tennis, go on a bike ride, a museum, a good restaurant, travel, pay for necessary healthcare, etc., without having to worry about financing these activities is the way to measure wealth. And the younger one may be when doing so, the wealthier one is.
Someone who is a billionaire but is frazzled by obligations, ambition, etc., is not wealthy by my standards. He may be rich but he is not putting his riches to good use. Of course, such people are not billionaires because they withdraw from the rat race but because they embrace it with gusto, perseverance, and determination. We occassionally see gifted folks such Irwin Mark Jacobs and Bill Gates to whom these precepts do not apply, but they are few and far between.
But back to my point.
The Mexicans who are hard at work cleaning up the post-Katrina mess are uneducated and therefore do not yet have the educational background that might otherwise allow them to use their drive to accumulate the kind of financial resources which would make them wealthy as I define the term. Nonetheless, they've got the right idea, and they are working so as to be able to afford to educate their children so that they may do what we have or nearly have accomplished.
Others could care less. Poverty induced leisure is no fun, though it obviously appeals to some. If it did not, some of my co-citizens would do like the Mexicans and work at the high paying manual labor jobs presently available here instead of loafing. |
