Tuesday, December 7, 2021মঙ্গলবার, ২২ই অগ্রহায়ণ, ১৪২৮ বঙ্গাব্দ
𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖊𝖊𝖐𝖑𝖞 𝕿𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖎
""Editorial""
Velocity of Money
Yesterday, my wife pointed out an amazing story about a Pizza Joint in San Francisco. Here is the Headline :
"The co-founder of a San Francisco pizza chain says he received no applications for an assistant manager, despite raising the salary to $70,000"
There are several things to understand in this story, and please take it slowly and with context because it is very interesting.
There is a major worker shortage going on in the United States and many other parts of the world. These are mostly is lower to mid-level jobs
San Francisco is a very expensive city. In October 2021, the median listing home price in San Francisco, CA, was $1.3M. In comparison, the median home price in Omaha, NE, is $237K. There are other matrices you can compare too, and you would arrive at a similar answer
$70K is a good salary for most average working-class Americans (yet may not be in SFO or NYC)
So the point is, people are offering decent salaries but not getting any takers? Why? The owner of the Pizza Joint tried to answer it himself:
"This job is seen particularly as thankless, overworked and underpaid — full stop,"
What he means by that, an average educated American from San Francisco is not willing to take that job for the incentives it promises. He/She currently has better choices in the gig economy, which, if not pays more, does provide flexible hours and better mental satisfaction like playing Splinterlands, for example (joking!). I know the average SFO resident doesn't play Splinterlands, but imagine if they did!
So clearly, it is not easy to find people to do low-paid jobs in most countries. Yes, even Bangladesh! Just ask the head-clerk, and he will tell you that he will never do a 9-5 job! But what these pizza joint owners can do is to find a person from Guatemala or Bangladesh and offer him/her the job and sponsor his H1B visa. The new immigrants will happily do that job, probably will do at $50K and yes in San Francisco. He/She will find a shared housing temporarily and save money. I do not see this as exploitation. I see this as an incentive-driven economy. The person from Bangladesh will do the job at a cheaper rate because the alternatives that he/she have available are far worse. Also the currency advantage that USD provides with BDT means even with a $50K/yr job, he/she will be able to send substantial money home to sustain the family at home. So, this is a win-win situation. Also this is nothing new for minimum wage jobs. The only new thing is that due to pandemic, or restrictive policies, this is harder and harder to implement. I do hope that changes and money flow more freely. After all, the velocity of money is the most important thing to sustain any economy.
""Money Matters?""
The concept of money, to me, is very complex. I won't be saying that, unlike others, money, to me, holds no value. Because that will be a big fat lie coming out of someone's mouth, who grew up in a middle-class family.
The concept of money having no value only fits into the mouths of those who can afford just about anything without even blinking, and even to them, money holds somewhat of a meaning. Otherwise, the rich wouldn't just keep on aiming to get richer, and the poor wouldn't be aiming towards the road of stability that only money can offer.
Now, a question may come to mind: how much money can be considered enough?
I've pondered about this from time to time, and it seems that the idea of ' enough money ' differs from person to person, and it constantly changes as they keep gaining more of it.
Some might say that being able to buy fifty acres of land anywhere in this world without putting a dent in your pocket can be considered as having enough money.
Some might say that being able to eat good food or buying branded clothes can be considered as having enough money. Some might even say that being able to travel freely can be considered as having enough money.
As I don't talk to people about the value of such things, I hardly can be the judge of which one can be considered as enough. All I can do is talk about what can be considered enough to me.
Since little, I've been a soul that has been addicted to buying books. My hands always twitch whenever I'm near any sort of book store, and the smell of books, both old and new, always makes me feel a strong sense of want, which I resist most of the time because, well... You know.
When I no longer have to resist this maddening urge of mine, I'll consider it as having enough money.
I've never been fond of accessories or clothes. I'm the kind who likes to buy things on sale and wear them with pride.
What do call me are colours, though. And any sort of stationery products. But I still use the same watercolour set I bought 2 years ago. I hardly ever paint with it.
The reason is simple. I'm afraid it will run out.
So, to me, when I'll be able to buy buckets of paint and splash them over big canvases without having a care, I'll consider that as having enough money.
Being able to order food at a restaurant without looking at the price, being able to make an up-to-date gaming pc, being able to buy tons of chocolates. That's what enough money sounds like to me.
I don't really want much in life. I just want to go to a classy cafe and order a cup of coffee, 'cause I can. I want to hand out a thousand dollar note to that poor family outdoors with a newborn who has no winter clothes, 'cause I can. I want to put a smile on my mother's face and tell her she doesn't need to worry about how the next month is gonna go, 'cause I can. I don't want my parents to worry about paying the bills, 'cause I can. And I don't want to think about the cost it will take for me to enrol in Masters somewhere in Europe, because I can.
These are what I want. To others, this might seem less or more. But to me, just this much, would be enough.
""Money money money""
I can ask you What is money to you?
I'm not looking forward to an answer that'll render me speechless for a few minutes. Yes, I believe you're imaginative and quite creative and probably have plans that run a mile long, but it's the idea of money that doesn't hold any surprises for me anymore. Even, a few years ago, in a TV series, I watched the protagonist burn a stack of money, though it sounds similar to what Joker did, you get the picture. That didn't faze me one bit. But, your answer can be eye-opening and may give me ideas. Money can have various levels of importance in one's life or can basically be meaningless - but I don't think that anyone has ever deemed it absolutely useless. It's what we have seen money as while growing up that shapes our point of view.
What we grew up believing may not be what we believe now.
You may have derived from what you believed in childhood and formulated your own theories but their effect remains. We all have a love-hate relationship with this particular thing. Some people love money and trust me, there's nothing wrong with that and some people hate it as well. If you're thinking that people will judge you for your opinion, then you're also judging the one who doesn't share the same ideals with you - again judgments are overrated. What do you think about it or what are you going to do about it is the primary obligation to you. Oftentimes I see people putting too much importance or little to no importance at all when it comes to money- but what's the balanced or agreeable amount of importance one should bestow over something like this.
We often forget money isn't just a necessity.
Yes, I stand by my point. Our needs are no longer limited to food, shelter, and security - they have surpassed. When you are stepping out of your limitations of basic needs, your need and necessity for money change drastically - your wants dominate, and your needs aren't subservient, which means your horizon expands in multitudes. When that happens, money becomes more than just a necessity - but, too much of anything isn't advisable. I have read somewhere - "The only real difference between medicine and poison is the dose....and intent." If you haven't enough money, then you can't exceed your basic necessities; if you constantly run after wealth, then you're not taking care of your basic needs.
Then again, I'm not a financial adviser.
People say money can't buy you happiness - I don't agree with it entirely. I believe, with proper management and accumulation, money is capable of acquiring things that one may desire and can bring a sense of comfort and contentment to that person. One may believe that materialistic things can never bring any joy or comfort to anyone - it's true to some extent; what's also true is money can facilitate a comfortable living arrangement that you can't disregard. So, all in all, you can't really hate money. However, what you can dislike is how poorly you manage and treat it or other significant things around you.
There's a thing called Too Much Money and it doesn't look pretty.
I do believe there's a certain level of money that's comfortable and after that limit, it's just undesirable. But that's my belief and I know my limits beyond the threshold of necessities, what my wants and desires are and what I fulfilled. So, ask yourself the same question I asked in the beginning and think. Don't just stop there because eventually you'll be met with other questions.
Perhaps the most important question is The role money plays in your life.
""Other side of the wind""
Money works in a mysterious way, it speaks in different ways for different people. One thing in common is that everyone wants to possess it by hook or crook. Nobody would like to turn away money (if you want, send them to me I will make the best use of it).
On the second day of our visit, we got to see a kid serving us our tea. He was the same age as my nephew. I asked him who he was and he replied that the owner is his dad, both of them run this tea stall. More precisely, he helps his dad in nights and mornings as those times are mostly crowded by the customers, so a helping hand is needed. We did a lot of fun talking while he was roaming around us. I love those kids who are friendly and calm, he was such a type of boy, the innocence visible through his smile was the best thing that attracted me.
So the main part of this piece, before leaving when we asked about his education from his father, he told us something like this, "Who doesn't want their child to get educated? I too want them to get education but it is not possible to maintain properly from my position." We talked more, a lot about his family and this shop. Actually, this kid was admitted to a govt primary school, these schools' education quality is very very low and that's the best his dad could afford. These can be only named as an Institute where a bunch of students is admitted and jumping classes one after another by counting years. That's it, good education comes with enough money and proper guidance. I was comparing that kid with my nephew, he got a renowned school to study, good teachers at home, no need to work at that age, such a happy life my nephew got! Does he know whats the need or scarcity of money is? Does he know how much important money is important in our life? Does he know the value of 10 cents? All of the answers are negative from my nephew's place and will be positive from that kid we met.
Two scenarios, completely different from one another, maybe this is the luck they got but in practical life, money holds that key we call luck. For my nephew, money is just money that can give him different types of chocolate from the shop and for that boy, money is everything, money is the reason for his struggles at the shop instead of enjoying his childhood on the school ground with friends.
""Money""
- @Toushik
It was quite satisfying during a recent conversation with my dad about the importance of money. He recounted to me the memories of his youth, how money played a vital role in his life, and how that same money ruined his friendship.
When he was in college, he had to deposit a certain amount of money in the college as a fee to sit for the board exam; only then could he participate in the exam; otherwise, he would not be able to take the exam. Since he was unemployed at the time, and his family's financial situation was critical, he suffered from depression. He kept running around for money, but he didn't get anywhere. And that year, he was not able to participate in the test. Because he could not deposit cash. There was no one to help him with the money. But he did not stop there. The following year is to prepare for the exam. The preparation was to "arrange enough money" so that he could deposit money at the college at the right time and take the exam.
He realized that money, though not everything in our lives, but plays an important role. And according to him, money is as essential to survival as oxygen.
They were good friends. In college life, they used to spend happiness and sorrow together. Since my dad was working part-time in a paint shop at that time, he often had money. One day his friend asked him to give him some money, he lent it to him without thinking. Suddenly my dad needs money, and he wants to return his money to his friend. And he was shocked to hear what he said in reply. He denied that he had not borrowed any money from him. That day, their friendship ended.
That's what my dad taught me in that short conversation about money.
𝕰𝖓𝖉 𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖘
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