Week one comment 1 June 12, 2017
In Lecture, I of Pragmatism, William James quoted Gilbert
Keith Chesterton, “There are some people – and I am one of them – who think
that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of
the universe. We think that for a landlady considering a lodger, it is
important to know his income, but still more important to know his philosophy.”
I think that you can learn a lot about a person’s philosophy on what they tell
you they would do if they won the Powerball as someone did this weekend; it was
not I. But if I had, what would I have done with the proceeds after tax.
Would I have bought a new car? My
current car has over 300,000 miles and gets me back and forth where I want to
go, so I see no need to trade it in. Would I have bought a yacht to entertain all
my new-found friends? Well, they weren’t standing next to me on the shore
before I had a boat, so I see no reason to buy one now to get their friendship.
Would I have purchased my own private jet so that I could travel all over the
world and sample the cuisine and spas. I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I
like to see escargot on the menu, but not on my plate. There are numerous other things I could do that
I’m sure that I would find enjoyable, but how much joy is too much, how many
beautiful sunsets are too many.
So here’s what I would do. I’d see
that my family was provided for and then I would the rest away. I would search
for communities and people in need and work with them to make their lives a
little better. I kind of like the original Mr. Deeds with Gary Cooper who when
asked why he was giving his money away said, “From what I can see, no matter what system of government we have,
there will always be leaders and always be followers. It's like the road out in
front of my house. It's on a steep hill. Every day I watch the cars climbing
up. Some go lickety-split up that hill on high, some have to shift into second,
and some sputter and shake and slip back to the bottom again. Same cars, same gasoline,
yet some make it and some don't. And I say the fellas who can make the hill on
high should stop once in a while and help those who can't. That's all I'm
trying to do with this money. Help the fellas who can't make the hill on high.”
I like that philosophy and if I won the lottery, I would try to lift as many
people up who need a hand as I could.
Hi Don,
ReplyDeleteI’m just wondering…did you buy a lottery ticket? You can’t win if you don’t play.
Don's already a winner, with this attitude. But I wonder how many lottery winners share it? Not enough.
DeleteIt is encouraging, though, to see how very many of Bill's & Melinda's friends have signed on to their initiative to give more of it away: "The Giving Pledge" - https://givingpledge.org/