Some things money can't buy...

Some things your money can't buy,

like heaven in the sky..

-Rick Ross

Some things your money can't buy, like a good future. This means the richest kids I knew growing up aren't so rich now. Wealth is of the mind; as a citizen of the most powerful country in the world, I have a broken economy and government to show for it. In my generation most will have you believe being wealthy is the product of attaining a lot of money. The thing about money is it has nothing to do with wealth just like four tires have nothing to do with getting around; unless you have an engine an at least one seat. Though the concept sounds and is simple, without true understanding the concept is meaningless. In a world were we watched countries and companies literally go broke overnight, knowledge of the process means everything. Just yesterday the newspapers said the astronomical signs have changed and as a matter of fact there's one more they forgot to include. That showed me things just aren't as practical as we assume it to be. As we move forward into an era where information is traveling faster than the light of understanding, it seems the old saying holds true; knowledge is more precious than silver and gold.

In 1869 a company called "Goldman" was started by Marcus Goldman "as a small commercial paper deal operating in a one-room office on Pine Street"-wall street journal. Goldman knew his trade and improved with time. By 1906, Goldman had become a major player in the IPO business with heavy hitter clients like Sears. Unfortunately, Goldman took a hit with the stock market crash of 1929, but that did not deteriorate the company by any means. Through a series of changes at the executive level, Goldman was back on top of their game with clients like Ford Motor Co. in the 1950s. By the time they decided to go public in May of 1999, the company "was valued at about 33 billion"-wsj. By around june 2006, the Bush Administration calls on former Goldman Chief Exec. Henry Paulson to be Treasury Secretary. During September of 2008 a man named Warren Buffet was aware of our countries economic climate well enough to know that Goldman is worth investing 5 billion dollars. So he did. By the time the American citizens had realized that we've been in a recession for about a year, our government buys 10 billion dollars worth of Goldman in October 2008 because it was deemed "too big to fail". This means the value of the company to our governments economy is so great that we can't afford to loose the company. By January 2010 thanks to crafty governing and a worthwhile investment Goldman records record profits of about 13.39 billion. Two people got paid,United States of America and Warren Buffet.

The point of this story is to show that great minds with little money can attain much wealth. From Microsoft to Facebook to Goldman and especially Mr. Warren Buffet. By the same token, great minds with greedy hearts can cause a lot of grief to the citizens of a fragile democracy. If you're reading this you've probably read my previous blogs so you've read my commentary on Halliburton, Cheney and friends so there's no need for repetition. In a democracy where information is available everywhere, we the citizens must realize how crucial it really is to sort out the truths about our broken system before it's too late. While the truths is often readily available through an immediate source, the same is true for lies and propaganda. The best example is how an Australian businessman (Rupert Murdoch) can travel across the seas and with his knowledge of our system completely disgrace our freedom of press for the sake of profit. It all goes back to knowledge. For the same reason why reality tv shows are booming Fox network makes profits from tension. When the tension is on a set/mansion with about 7 fake Italians not from New Jersey it's tolerable. When the tension is created in a room where a group of men and women gather to make the laws for the most powerful country in the world you have a recipe for disaster. It's one thing to create a Computer but it's another thing to create windows. It's one thing to have a standard pc but having a mac is something else.

Some things your money can't buy. True wealth is of the mind and great minds with little money can attain much wealth. In a democracy where the economy is the topic of discussion, the poor citizen literally can't afford to be mislead. Most of my 20 year old peers are apathetic to "politics". Maybe if we renamed "politics" "money" more people will pay attention. There are some things your money can't buy and in a broken economy knowledge about what's really going on and of true self-worth is priceless.