There’s a lot of talk in the world right now about bank failures and government bailouts, etc. I’m not really interested in wading into all of that; I think social media has made too many people too comfortable sharing all their opinions on every little thing with the world, and while might occasionally tell you all how much I hate cookies that look like they’re chocolate chip but are actually oatmeal and raisin, I’ve tried lately to limit my hot takes to things that don’t really matter, and talk less about things that only spark arguments (like politics).

And yet, here we are. Banks are failing, people want to recoup their losses, and people are drawing lines in the sand over the matter.

Without getting into any of those particulars, I would point out something I’ve noticed when looking at this from a more detached vantage point. It’s not really about the banking issue, but more about the tone and presumptions being thrown around by people commenting on it in the media, etc. I find it interesting how many seventy-year-old people there are today who should be enjoying a quiet retirement but instead are working working working. Some of them are in the 9-to-5 job life, working as hard as they did when they were thirty-five simply because things cost too much to live off of whatever retirement they saved for. That’s unfortunate, but it happens; I’m not talking about those sorts of people, however. I’m talking about those who are in specialty jobs, positions of power and influence, and such like.  Think about those still working as officials of public/elected office, well past the time when their constituents might wish them to retire (but who keep electing them for a variety of reasons, most of them asinine). Seriously, there are some Senators in Washington DC that are nearly a century old, and they’re writing laws regarding a tech industry (among others) that they show no hint of understanding. Why won’t they just retire? The reason is simple: The gettin’s too good.

Look also at some figures in popular culture: Roger Clemens could have retired after he won a World Series, followed the path of his supposed hero Nolan Ryan, and moved on from baseball. Instead, he took a bunch of drugs so that he could keep playing, because he couldn’t walk away and enjoy a quiet retirement. Tom Brady retired and then unretired and then retired again, unable to walk away. Brett Favre was even sadder in how much he kept coming back for more, looking like less and less of the man he once was with every comeback. There are countless actors and actresses so full of plastic body accessories and injections they look like they would melt if they stood next to a wood stove. There are University Professors who are well past their prime research years but who keep hanging on to their tenure. There are rock stars in their eighties pretending to fight “the man” with every sad concert performance. And, more recently, there are tech/I.T. millionaires and billionaires who struck gold in silicon valley fifteen or twenty years ago but who are already out of touch and refuse to let go of their empires, and balk at the idea of putting some of their money toward genuinely good charitable works or something to ensure the lasting improvement of the country that allowed them to have such sudden success.

What’s the deal? What’s the common denominator here? I think our culture is in dire need of a reset, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

I’d like to believe that so-called “normal people,” if they got a few million in some fluke way, would spend what they needed, save what they could, and would try to get into their sixties or so comfortable enough to spend time with their families and maybe help their community. But there are types out there who are simply addicted to making money, not to accomplish anything for everyone’s good, but simply because they’re addicted to the “thrill of acquiring.” They’re the types who think “winning at life” means being the one who dies with the most money in a bank account. Money is all that matters to them, so they cannot let it go.

I haven’t done any research on this or anything. This is purely anecdotal. I know that the “desire to acquire” has been around for as long as money has been around, but I can’t help but think things have gotten worse in conjunction with the increase in the average lifespan. It’s almost like these types, as they’ve exceeded 60 and 70 years old, with enough stamina to keep going for another twenty or so years, have regressed to being adolescents again.

Anyway, that’s my rant. Is there a solution to this problem? Sure, but it’s not complicated. In fact, it’s so simple that the very ones who need it are the most likely to dismiss it as “naive” or “simpleton thinking.” The solution is to make Christ your life, to be content with what you have, and to put others before self. That’s Christianity in a nutshell. It leads to a happy life, though not always the most worldly-prosperous one.

The retirement’s out of this world, though.

~ Matthew