Nate Hagens
In interviews, speeches and in writing on this blog, I often point out that financial capital is just a marker for real capital, which is comprised of natural, built, social and human components. In the context of upcoming social upheaval given numerous converging crises, this post is a brief discussion piece on how those making little or no money may actually have a leg up on those who are employed/making a lot of money.
With the financial crises making headlines, and folks losing jobs and unable to pay for things they once viewed as ‘necessities’, I thought I would offer a different perspective. For at least 4 reasons, I think those lower on the income hierarchy may have advantages.
Let me begin with some personal history. I am not a wealthy man, at least by US standards, but in the past I’ve made a great deal of money. Two years out of MBA school in 1994, I was making over $400,000 per year. However, irrespective of how much I earned, I was living paycheck to paycheck – not only did I spend all my after tax income but was psychologically dependent on the next check being at least as big. (The details behind this are another story entirely). Today I live off of a graduate student stipend of $21,000 per annum and some income generated from savings. I now live in a 1200 square foot house, grow 40% of my own food and spend most of my spare cash on tools, books and gardening equipment. I am no saint, and due to travel still have a footprint many times that of the average person. I consume less not because I have to, but because it has made me much happier, and calmer. Perhaps I was lucky in my twenties to hang with billionaires who weren’t happy. However, I still am connected to the financial markets, both due to interest and because more than half of my closest friends still work in the industry (though that number is declining, partially because some are losing their jobs and partially because I am losing some of them as friends.) I don’t have all the answers to the upcoming social puzzle, but having breathed the air near the top, as well as studied the unrelated sciences of habituation, finance and anthropology, and so feel qualified to make a few speculations.
With that backdrop here are some reasons why those of you making a lot of money ought to reassess your path, and those making little or no money, should perhaps have a brighter outlook.