Watching the Line
There's a line out there that moves up and down all day long. A lot of people watch it because they think it's a sign of how wealthy they are, or how wealthy they could be. Some people have killed themselves when the line goes too low, others have gone to jail. Some people are genuinely happier when the line is high up there, getting along better with their friends and family, whistling to themselves a bit more while they work.
Why do we watch this line so closely? Why do we so willingly and anxiously tie our happiness and sense of security and standing in the world to its altitude and slope?
Some veteran line watchers offer advice and comfort through an adage like "a watched pot never boils," meaning that you just shouldn't watch the line on a day to day basis lest you become frustrated with the time that positive change can take. But I am wary of this mindset, because the only acceptable outcome is still boiling, and so when the pot boils we are happy, and when the pot is not boiling, we lack happiness.
I wonder if there are other ways we can measure wealth? I wonder what it means to live in a world where we can be happy no matter where that line sits - perhaps even one where there is no line to watch at all?
"Naive!" some will say. "Foolish and unrealistic," will say others. And then they'll go back to watching the line, drumming fingers nervously, gut churning as fortunes rise and fall, hoping.
Looking at the above chart, I wonder what it meant to be happy in 1950 when the line was so "low." I wonder what it meant to be happy before the line got going at all. And of course, I wonder what's on the other side of the current peak, far to the right, off in the distance.
So, yes, though perhaps for different reasons and with a different notion of the boiling point, I'm watching the line too.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...Have something to say about that? Read and add comments below.
Related Posts
If you thought that was interesting, you might also enjoy these related posts:
I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of "boom/bust". In the biological world, populations that grow too rapidly and consume all their resources eventually die down (rather rapidly) to a population size that can live on whatever resources are left. Rabbits have this problem, for example.
The other alternative is the "S-curve", where the growth is logarithmic but plateaus at carrying-capacity. This is the result of populations that recognize their sustainable levels and actively seek to reach it.
It's curious to notice that the proliferation of Internet usage strongly correlates with the growth curve. But looking at the progress of "the line", it's hard to say if we're headed for an "L-curve" (boom-bust) or an "S-curve" (at some carrying capacity).
I personally don't own any stocks (although as cheap as they're getting, I may consider it!) so this really doesn't directly affect me at all either. But anyone who reads my blog knows my feelings on the whole matter ;P