A look back into the archives

The following post was one of my first in this blog, nearly eight years ago. It was a response to a WordPress prompt. I had just moved to a ratty old trailer in the middle of nowhere Kentucky. I could have just as easily written it today.

“Perhaps too much of everything is as bad as too little.”

– Edna Ferber

For decades I was fortunate to be one of the clueless. I had no idea I was clueless. I vaguely understood I was fortunate. I considered myself concerned and empathetic. Then Fortune turned, and I saw with new eyes. Every day, as poverty deepens, as my age increases and as the future dwindles, my perception and my real knowledge changes accordingly.

People often quote, wrongly, that “money is the root of all evil” but the whole quote is, “For the love of money is the root of all evil” and in that missing phrase is the reality. It is the greed, the grasping, and the endless pursuit of the money that provides the “too much” that is the evil, not the money itself.

Lack of money creates its own hell of fear, hopelessness, illness, and soul-killing. This abyss is driven by the deprivation of basic human needs — not wants.

You can be happy, fulfilled and yes, even enlightened if you have too much. (Which poses the question: Who defines what is too much?). You can be happy, enlightened, and grateful if you are poor. Let me tell you from experience, it is much easier with money. It is much easier if you know you are going to have a roof over your head, tonight and next week. It is much easier if you can go into a store and buy good quality food without having to withstand the sneers of those judging your purchases. It is much easier if you can afford medical care and medication. The list is endless.

I harbor no ill will towards the Haves; I’m happy that Edna Ferber eventually lived such a life as to be able to utter such sincere nonsense.

Feature photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

What I was listening to while I dove through the archives: