[MD] From each... to each

[Platt Holden]

Hi SA,

You wrote:

>      Aware of ones ritual is wisdom.  Getting the $,
> as I was singing sarcastically above, is a ritual
> performed by many in this culture.  I sign the back of
> my paychecks to 'get the $'.  Yet, each time I do
> something that doesn't 'get the $' like writing on the
> MOQ.org, walking in the woods, fishin, cuddling with
> my wife, petting my dog, I sink into the larger world
> where the value of $ disappears and the lives of many
> and much larger rituals of seasons and relationships
> rest and move in a home as large as it is.  You go
> look and know for yourself.  Peer into the night sky
> and see the stars.  How big do you think this world is
> that is way outside of that narrow focus that this
> culture has?

I appreciate the beauty of the activities you mention, but find that $ 
are necessarily involved in whether we like it or not. "Writing on the 
MOQ," a most pleasurable activity, requires $ to buy a computer and an 
internet connection. "Walking in the woods" requires $ to buy shoes and 
other items of clothing, not to mention bug spray. "Fishin" usually 
requires $ to buy line, poles, bobbers and perhaps bait. "Petting my 
dog" requires $ for dog food, vet bills, flea powder. Even attracting a 
mate to "cuddle" usually requires $ to date, to buy a ring, to furnish 
a home.     
 
Rather than focus of $ for $ sake, many of us, including me, focus on 
just the pleasurable things of which you speak, realizing that to have 
such pleasures a modicum of $ are necessary. I would go further and 
suggest that many if not most who focus on making a fortune fail, 
whereas those who focus on producing a product or service that fulfils 
the needs and desires of others will, with luck, make a fortune. In a 
free market, wealth is not so much a measure of social status as a 
measure of productivity. 

So I don't knock $. I think Bill Gates deserves every nickle of his 
fortune considering what he has done to foster interpersonal 
communication such as you and I enjoy at this very moment.

Platt