Money Madness

I've noticed a lot of momentum picking up over the last couple of months (or perhaps I'm just finally in tune with a conversation that's been occurring for awhile) about what is wrong with our economy and the current means we use to value things.

For the most part it is all about money, status and instant gratification. All of this adds up to not valuing being a creator of something or possibly being afraid to. 

I was surprised this week when comments from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet's right hand man and a staunch republican, were released this week about the poor state of American Finance. You can read the full article here. 

This excerpt from the article is what piqued my attention:

"I'm always afraid I'll be a terrible example for the youth who want to make a lot of money with and not do much for anybody else and who just want to be shrewd about buying little pieces of paper. Even if you do that very honestly, I don't consider it much of a life. Just being shrewd about buying little pieces of paper, shrewder than other people, is not an adequate life. It's not a good example for other people.It’s the reason that people like Warren and me are a) charitable, and b) we’re running businesses. We’re not just buying little pieces of paper."

Have we created a system that rewards buying pieces of paper vs creating something that benefits others? And what are the ways to reasonably shift the momentum on this when it is speeding along in the wrong direction?