There are so many cliches about money. Things like, money doesn't buy happiness, money is the root of all evil (which is a misquote of a bible verse). I totally agree that money does not bring about happiness. As the late rapper will attest to "Mo Money, Mo Problems." Greed can be the cause of all kinds of horrible things in this world. The pursuit of money above all else creates sweat shops where poor kids work 12 hour days for little money in horrible working environments. It causes wealth at the expense of others. It causes unnecessary competition between people. Greed creates a lot of problems, that's why it's a deadly sin.
Money itself is neutral. It doesn't create anything. The correction to the misquote above is something like, "the love of money in the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). Not that money is evil. Money is a tool. Greed is evil. I disagree with our late rapper friend, Biggie Smalls, I believe mo money, different problems, which doesn't flow as well in a song. Not being able to pay the rent, feed your child, feed yourself are all real problems. Not knowing where your next meal comes from is a problem. Deciding between whether you are going to eat or child will have diapers is a problem. There are a lot of problems that go along with little or no money.
I can talk about the problems associated with not having much money. Student loans helps me understand some of those problems, but not the extremes that I mentioned above. I don't know what the problems are with having "mo money". I would like to experience those problems. I would like to know the problems, but only for research, of course. This isn't greed, right?
I have decided to change my format on this blog a little. It has been called meaningless assertions the whole time, but I have not been very assertive in my assertions (see what I did there, that was fun). So, from here on out, I'll be making assertions and number said assertions. They may be social, political, theological, or just random assertions, but above all they will be meaningless and mine.
Assertion #1-Manliness is not selfishness.
Do you remember that Dodge Charger commercial from 2010? It was a Super Bowl commercial I believe, and I can say honestly it really irritated me. If you don't remember here it is:
It's called "Man's Last Stand." Here is my problem. It basically says, "I will be considerate of you as a person implying that being considerate is emasculating as long as I can drive this powerful 'manly' car." I will be considerate of you, only if it will get me what I want. I can understand the office things. I mean let's face it two hour meeting are horrible, but putting the seat down, cleaning the sink after shaving, these things are just being considerate.
Increasingly, in my view of the world, being a man means being selfish. Look at most Vince Vaughn movies. He plays a petty selfish man perpetually stuck as a 12 year old boy. There is nothing wrong with 12 year old boys, but a 40 year old needs to act differently. It cannot be all about self and satisfying your own desires. Side note: that shouldn't be what 12 year old boys should do either.
Being manly in my view has nothing to do with selfishness. In fact, I believe the best thing you can do as a man is to be selfless. Obviously, there are times that you have to take care of yourself, but you cannot always do that. Being a man or being mature means caring for others and being considerate of others regardless of your reward for it. Being a man should be defined by how you put your abilities to work to make this world a better place. Having a penis doesn't mean that you have the right to be selfish, instead it means that you need to understand that everyone has personhood and needs to be respected. Manliness is being considerate and caring, not self seeking and overly aggressive.
How would you define being a man? Does the way being a man is portrayed in the media ever make you angry?
