Of the Merits of Thrift

In the study of classical economics, Adam Smith tells us of unlimited human desires overlaid on very limited resources. In that balance between desires and resources, most of our conflicts and problems arise. Aside from the I want, I want, I want or perhaps in our modern condition, iWant, iWant, iWant, there are other concerns entirely.

I have come to understand my position on prosperity and thrift even more fully with age. Over the years I have seen many of my friends take on absurd amounts of debt, liabilities and stresses because they have either wanted something, been told they want something, or have made the decision that having something is more valuable than the time it would take to pay it off.

It is easy to put money in the center of prosperity and thrift, as money is the most tangible thing we all seem to agree upon. And even the words prosperity and thrift invoke the idea of money. And when it comes down to it, we trade all sorts of things, time, morals and life for money. In this way, we have all learned that time is money. Perhaps time is money, and that is something that I never say, never think, nor have I ever believed. In fact, my ideas are the exact opposite: money is time.

In this discussion of prosperity, I feel like the modern ideal, at least for many of my fellow countrymen, is a fickle if not intangible thing. For most, prosperity is a feeling of financial well-being. That feeling of financial well-being that comes from a home (complete with mortgage) and a retirement account. If these sorts of things make a person feel more secure, so be it, but how secure is someone with these things? Having a mortgage on a home has many benefits, and perhaps these benefits are more than the problems. A mortgage, after all, means that the bank actually owns the house. No matter how much a mortgage is, a significant portion of the payment goes to interest and that interest is freely given to unseen, unknown persons. And the retirement account? It really has two variables: when you get in, and when you get out. I feel like these are the sorts of things that are good uses of money, and perhaps that relates to good uses of time.

I also think for most people, the notion of prosperity comes with an image, whether it's the location of a home, or a specific automobile or a brand of clothing. This sort of prosperity is just a sign of prosperity rather than that of being prosperous. Again, there is nothing wrong with having the “finer” things in life, and should that make a person happy, so be it. Since I have lived in a glass house for most of my life, I will never throw stones. I have no reason to judge one way or the other how anyone lives their life, how they spend their time, or their money.

I do, however, see a great many holes in the system in which we live.

The biggest hole is the rate in which we use our resources. I find cars and superfluous plastic things to be such a waste of time and money and the environment in which we all live. I find that the flashing ads, the TV shows, the print ads, the internet banners, all of it to be increasingly strange and bizarre. I don't think any of this stuff has changed since the onset of advertising and marketing tactics, but I think it's continuously becoming more and more personal. If I look at the Internet and I decide that I want to look at paper lamps, then I will get dozens, if not hundreds of ads for paper lamps. In this way, we are constantly reminded of whatever it was we were in mind to buy, and it is all too easy to buy. To buy it and to keep buying.

The other big hole I see in the system is the seemingly surrender of attitudes about what is a need. Let us never forget those things that we need and those things we want. I feel like it is okay to want what you need but not to need what you want. Because when you really think about it, the things you need, truly need, it is a very small list. For me, the only things that I truly need, the only things I truly value, have a heartbeat. Anything in my home, in my life, or the greater part of the world that I live that doesn't have a heartbeat can be replaced if missed.

I wonder about this notion of prosperity. When you populate your life with the people in your family and in your community and foster relationships, is this not prosperity? When you find a passion, whatever it maybe, and pursue that passion whether or not there is a monetary gain, is that not prosperity? Juxtapose that on the desire of money and monetary gain for the sake of money and monetary gain, how then is this prosperous when at the end of a day or the end of a life there is nothing more to show for it than material goods, bad health and no company to sooth you?

If prosperity has a subjective meaning, what does it mean to thrifty? I think for most, thrifty means to be cheap or perhaps stingy or frugal. It's a fickle word, this thrifty, but does it have to be? My favorite definition of thrifty comes from the Boy Scouts of America as the 9^th point of the Scout law:

A Scout is thrifty. A Scout works to pay his way and to help others. He saves for the future. He protects and conserves natural resources. He carefully uses time and property.

I also think that the idea of using time and property carefully is not too difficult a concept, but it is often a difficult practice.