When I was a child the teacher at school told a story about two wise men that were old friends. They chose different paths
of life. The first man became a servant of the king. He became very rich by serving the king with his advice. The other man
remained poor. He lived in a small home and could only afford to eat lentil soup.
After many years the old friends met. This rich man felt sorry for his poor friend and said to him: "Why don't you become a
servant of the king like me? Then you do not have to eat lentil soup every day." The poor man then replied: "Why don't you
learn to eat lentil soup like me? Then you don't have to be a servant of the king."
As the story of the poor man and the servant of the king demonstrates, the most fundamental freedom is having little needs.
If you have many needs, you may be forced to do things you do not like to do.
Twilight Zone
The episode Button, Button of the Twilight Zone is about a stranger that gives a down-and-out couple a box with a button on it. He states that if they press the button, they would receive a large sum of money but also that someone they did not know would die. After a long time of agony the woman decided to press the button because she felt that they were in a desperate position (see also: Wikipedia - Button, Button (The Twilight Zone)).
The down-and-out couple could have opted for cutting expenses. If they had less needs, they would not have thought about
pushing the button. The couple may have been poor to US standards but they were probably rich to Mexican standards.
The situation of the couple resembles the situation the United States finds itself in. The United States are accustomed to a
high standard of living that they cannot afford to pay for. Therefore the United States are waging wars in foreign countries
under false pretexts to get control over oil reserves. Innocent people die for the standard of living in the United States.
The people of the United States do not seem to care because they do not know the people that are dying.
The Netherlands was a loyal partner of the United States in the recent wars. The Netherlands did send troops to Iraq and
Afghanistan. This may not be a coincidence because Royal Dutch Shell is a Dutch company.
The long climb
At secondary school a teacher that was an avid mountaineer told us a story about one of his first mountaineering trips. He
set out with a friend to climb a mountain. They started their climb full of enthousiasm. Soon they overtook two old men that
were climbing the mountain very slowly. The teacher and his friend passed by the two old men easily and soon they were out
of sight.
Time passed as they climbed higher. The teacher and his friend became tired. They could barely walk and sat down panting.
After some time when they were still sitting there, they saw the old men coming in slow steps. The teacher and his friend
did not make it to the top, but the two old men probably did.
The teacher and his friend did not plan their journey very well. They started out too energetic on a long climb. Also life
is a journey. It is wise to plan ahead even though you do not know how long you will live and what will happen in the
future. If you act irresponsibly, you may pay the price later on. It is therefore wise to save money for the future if you
can afford to do this. People that are deeply in debt have often acted irresponsibly.
Definition of freedom and happiness
Happiness is for a large part determined by the extent to which you are satisfied with the situation you are living in. If
you are not satisfied, you have the following options: trying to change the situation or trying to accept it. This may seem
obvious but many people seem to forget that the second option exists. The second option is a very powerful one: it can make
you happy, even though the situation you are in may seem unattractive to others. The second option also can make you free.
You do not need to change the situation you are in to become happy. In most cases it is wise to do both: try to accept the
situation and try to improve it.
If happiness remains elusive, satisfaction probably is the best thing you can achieve. It may be a good idea to have low
expectations that are not very specific. This does not mean that you should not try to achieve goals in life, but it is
better to try to achieve realistic goals depending on the situation you are in. In this way the chance of becoming
disappointed is minimised. It all seems obvious and probably there is not more to it. Theories about the purpose of life and
enlightenment can make living more complicated than it needs to be.
Freedom can be defined as having options. Money is therefore important because money represents options. Issues of freedom
and money are therefore closely related. Many people think that freedom is having the option to buy many things and having
many different products and services to choose from. Those people may find themselves deeply in debt after some time. From
then on they must work to pay for the interest on the money they borrowed. They may even need to take a second job. Those
people have no options. Paying interest on money is therefore a form of slavery, especially because money can be created by
governments and banks at no cost to themselves.
Trying to keep up with other people makes you unfree. In this way you do not set your standards yourself but your standards
are set by others. If you think you need a new car because your neighbours have one, your neighbours set your standards.
Thinking that the products you own must be a reflection of your personality also makes you unfree. This thinking may compel
you to buy expensive brands while your personality may become defined by the marketeers of the products.
Practical consequences
Many people feel unfree because issues concerning money dominate their lives. We may have democracy and a high standard of
living, but money seems to determine the destiny of our society and also our personal destiny. To determine how free you
are, you may ask yourself the following questions:
- How long can I last on my savings without income?
- How many hours do I need to work each week to pay for all my expenses?
- When can I retire?
You may want to take a five weeks leave. You may want to retire early. You may want to work less or take another less paying
job you like more. If you need the money, you have no options. How rich you are does not only depend on how much money you
have, but also on how much money you need.
In this way someone having $200,000 in the bank that needs $20,000 each year to live from is richer than someone having
$500,000 in the bank that needs $100,000 each year. The first person can last 10 year on the $200,000, while the second can
only last 5 years on the $500,000 he or she owns. In the same fashion the first person can save money when his or her income
is $30,000 a year while the other has to borrow money when his or her income is $80,000 a year.
Some people may feel that they are in a desperate situation. However in many cases the solution is quite simple. If you think
of buying something, you can ask yourself:
- Do I really need it? Realising you do not need it, saves you money.
- How long do I have to work to pay for it? Realising how long you have to work for something you want to buy, can make you
reconsider your belief that you need it.
- Can I buy the same thing second hand? If you still think you need the thing you are planning to buy, you often can buy it
second hand far cheaper.
It may sound simple and it probably is. Reducing your needs, having low expectations of the future that are not very
specific and planning ahead are the road to freedom and happiness.