Choosing to Deserve Wealth

Money and Wealth

Is it wrong to pursue money? Is it wrong to seek wealth? I am surprised sometimes by the different types of people who have money and wealth. Some of the wealthiest individuals in the world – Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – earned their wealth. While there is a long list of people who did not earn wealth, some got it in a legitimate manner like those who inherited wealth. Still there are those got wealth from illegal and wrong manners – thieves, drug deals, dictators, war lords…

I guess it all goes to show that money and wealth are independent of right or wrong. Money is not an ethical issue, but there are often a lot of ethical issues associated with wealth.

Ayn Rand, the author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, who is also credited with her own philosophy – Objectivism, defined money as a merely a tool.

“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” ~Ayn Rand

Too many are willing to commit a large number of wrongs and even atrocities in the pursuit of money. Too many people have lost their lives and legitimate and hard-earned property at the hand of someone who was willing to cast aside right and ethics.

Deserving It

For me, I’d rather deserve wealth. I am not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination although I am better off than a large number of people. When I do make money, I prefer to earn it by my hard and smart work. I appreciate it more.

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