Paid in trust

I think I already mentioned before that I don't really get how money works. Of course I followed the economics classes, went to business school, learned all the theories; but fundamentally the essence of money still eludes me.

Yup, all the cliches still apply. The world needs to go round; and yes I know it is not the most important thing... but it definitely makes things easier and more convenient, which is basically all people are looking for.

The very convenience of money is not having to explain yourself to everyone, everytime in order to get a cup of coffee. People are not charitable I found. Hospitable yes, charitable very rarely. People will only give you stuff if they believe that you are worth it, and are trustworthy.

I guess you could convince that rich, old great uncle to give you food and a place to stay; and if you are good at walking upright in front of leery photographers, you could be a model and have designer couturiers make dresses specially for you. But if you don't have the luxury of a rich family with real estate, or good genes and long legs, money is a good substitute for paying the rent, or actually wearing something nice to the next company party.

Ideally you never need any money. People should happily surrender what you need to you, just because you're such a nice guy. You wanna go somewhere? Taxi brings you there. You want to get into a concert? Bouncer opens the door specially for you. Hungry? Jamie Oliver brings you his best dish, because you're such good mates.

However, if you don't want to be bothered with convincing, building trust or anything in that department, you can always turn to some hard-earned dollars/euros to accomplish the same... you can still get to the airport, you can still listen to Joss Stone, and you can still fill your stomach with a chicken sandwich; it just won't be given to you outright.

Primary and secondary pay

When you're a paid employee, the biggest part of your wages consists of money, moolah, dineros. And yet you only notice the absence if it. People always complain about not getting paid enough, having to spend so much on living and so on.

A relatively small part of your wages consists of secondary benefits, like a pension plan, a lease car, an expense account, fancy dinners, concerts, vacation days. It is the presence of these benefits that you would notice. (Coincidentally, they're a great source for tall stories)

This means that you end up working mostly for something that you only notice when it's not there anymore, instead of for something beneficial or rewarding. That's kind of strange isn't it?

The Colour of Money

I don't really have a firm grasp on the concept of money. I mean, I've had the economic studies classes, I'm aware of theories about markets, industries, supply-and-demand, inflation and all that, and I think I've got a vague inkling of the stock exchange. Still despite all that, I'm unsure how it all works. I'm pretty sure it shouldn't actually.

Money makes the world go round, people often say, and for a large part of my day that is very true. No cash, means no food, no parking, no electricity, no plumbing, no gas, no petrol and so forth. Even if I would stay an entire day at home, I would still spend some 30 euros, just for staying awake.

The major question I've got is the value of money, or more accurately: the reward for something where effort is put in. I'm fully aware that contacting someone with my mobile phone costs money, lest I have to actually travel all the way to that person to say that I thoroughly enjoyed their company. But why is it 0.05 cents per minute? I didn't tell anyone to make diesel prices 1 euro per liter? I sure as hell didn't tell Banana Republic to make me a pair of jeans for 150 EUR. Or that a 50 Cent CD (the rapper, you dolt) is worth 19.99. Or that Ronaldinho gets an x amount of moolah just to appear on a potato chip commercial. And finally nobody told me an hour of my time was worth between 50 and 100 EUR. And yet here we are.

Theory says that the market decides what is sold and what isn't. What prices are conforming to the market, and which don't. What salaries are fair and which are not. And yet: I am part of the market and still I have slim or no control over what a fair price is, other than taking it or leaving it. On a massive scale, that might be choice. On an individual scale it's nothing.

It is supposed to be really simple: things I want or need (good food, nice clothes, housing, SonyEricsson P990, NFL on TV, air) I will gladly pay money for. Things that I don't fancy, but are legally, or physically or socially necessary (diesel fuel for my car, permits, artworks, animals, watches) I don't value as highly, so don't expect me to fork out 2.000 EUR for a Tag Heuer titanium watch or something.

For a lot of things what is placed on the price tag doesn't reflect its worth. And that's why I don't get how money works: A dollar is still a dollar (or roughly 1.25 euros) and you have to fulfil a whole and varied bunch of wants and needs, which every individual values differently. And if people can't get along, suddenly the dollar is inflated, and supposedly you can buy more stuff. Except that my old adage still rings true:

"no matter how much more space you make, it will fill up"

everyone wants a piece of the more-dollar. And they will get it, at the cost of the people who don't care much or are not fast enough to react. Money is just a means to spread the wealth over a larger amount of people, and unfortunately it's a means with just as much strengths as it has weaknesses. It this the best the human race can come up with after several thousand years of bartering?

Nope. Don't get it at all. Unfortunately my ideas don't have much of an audience on a tropical deserted island (apart from Flipper, the cast of Lost and the Madagascar monkeys), so I'm kind of stuck here.