If your one desire is to get rich, I only have one thing to say to you. If you are working, going to school, and studying in your spare time, so you can get rich, this essay is for you.

Do something else.

It’s okay to have money but it is just stuff. Trust me. I am old man now and I’ve seen a lot of stuff, you can always get more.

(Just in case, you still want to get rich, below is a link to one of those constantly appearing article where wealthy people give you useless advice on how to be incredibly wealthy. They tell you to scrimp and save when obviously they did not. They tell you to invest sometimes in specific stocks that will add to their bottom line. They tell you to work hard when every picture and every article ever written about them discusses their sexual adventures, their times at resorts (and rehabs), their enormous homes and the huge sums they began with. If you are ready to believe this stuff, well, good luck with that.)

‘Who in the hell needs a Rolex watch?’: The late Charlie Munger warned Americans against ‘pretentious expenditures’ — here’s what he preferred to invest in instead (msn.com)

Let me explain. Do you know what the problem is at Boeing? Right now, all that the leadership intends, the board and the executives, is to make money. There is a laser like devotion to bonuses and stock profits. It is a perfect example of an organization built on greed and perhaps, even Milton Friedman’s silly concept of shareholder value. What happens when you seek profit at all cost? Your product safety and quality go down and people die — and they did. Eventually no one wants your product as they realize that being a customer means the only, the absolutely only purpose a customer has, is to be a source of revenue. There is no recognition of the customer as a human being, a brother or sister in the flesh, a value beyond revenue in at least some tiny sense. In other words, you are just dust as far as the company is concerned. Should you die, they will send a carefully composed form letter and check to make sure the insurance refunded them their losses, just the cost of doing business.

What made Boeing the incredible success that it was once? They were engineers and men of vision. They loved building aircraft, they loved overcoming challenges and above all, they loved the concept of flight. In a real way, a miracle of the 20th century. The aircraft they created were things of beauty. The other commercial values, fuel economy, customer service and long term value, all followed in the wake of engineering and visionary goals. Because the creators of Boeing knew what the current crop of fools do not, building airplanes and flying millions of people around the world is a calling, something to live for.

And that is what your life goal should be. Instead of contemplating being rich, contemplate making a new product, working to serve humankind, being a lady or gentleman, living a good life with an appreciation of literature, science and the arts. In other words, have a goal worthy of an intelligent moral being.

To reiterate, making money is okay but it should not be an end in itself.

Look below at the picture of a Boeing 707. It is not just a plane. In a real way, it was a revolution in travel and in technology of the this small planet. Have you ever looked at pictures of planes from the Second World War? After a while, you can very often tell what nation the aircraft belongs to without seeing any insignia at all. That is because our creations mirror their creators, their backgrounds and experience. The Boeing 707 was embodied vision of the people who built them.

By Mike Freer – http://www.airliners.net/photo/Pan-American-World/Boeing-707-321B/1281992/L/, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17026969

Be someone that makes a difference in our lives, a positive one. Make a new product, sell a new idea, write, think and contemplate. Money is to a certain extent necessary. That while true does not mean getting value is more important than anything else.

Have a life. Form an idea of the eternal and get in touch with it. Have a strong relationship with someone — I’ll leave the choice to you. You don’t need my recommendation for your personal life. Just know that I hope you have a good one.

Live a life that at the end, you can stand before your creator or your nation or your philosophy and feel that you can stand proud as one who was the best human being possible.

James Alan Pilant

(My thanks to Wikipedia for the use of their 707 picture. I have followed the instructions on credit carefully. If you wish any changed or can suggest and improvement in how I use your material, please let me know. And I want to remind all my readers that Wikipedia is a worthy cause to donate to.)