Common belief is that more money is better. Most people are always trying to have more money because it can never hurt you — in fact common wisdom is that it always helps.
In Jainism, the religion I was born in but not practice its rituals and common practices, the belief is really opposite. To get satisfaction and nirvana, you must give away everything. One must give away all ‘parigraha’ (possessions) — including your clothes. Jain monks live naked. I do see the ‘truth’ behind this idea. But that is the extreme.Â
There is an interesting story published in several places — for a version see News.com article. In an interview when asked, after MySpace was valued at $ 15B, about Craiglist, the founder Craig Newmark said:
“Who needs the money? We don’t really care,” Craig Newmark said in an interview at the Picnic ’06 Cross Media Week conference in Amsterdam.
“If you’re living comfortably, what’s the point of having more?” Newmark said.
He further added that
Newmark said raising the money to subsequently give it away to good causes also did not interest him.
“Finding a good cause is incredibly hard and time-consuming,” he said, adding that he and Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster agree on not cashing in.
“We both know some people who own more than a billion (dollars) and they’re not any the happier. They also need bodyguards,” he said.
I like the thinking. And can say that, though I never had the problem mentioned here, I see the ‘truth’ based on many people I know.
This forms an interest contrast with the entry about entrepreneurism…
Really depends on the definition of entrepreneurism.
But, in general you are right. And such contradictions are what make life intriguing and interesting.