Money V.S. Morals; Who Wins?

"Life shouldn't be printed on dollar bills.  ~Clifford Odets"

Yet how often it is. It seems that in today's society, we spend more time looking at the car someone drives, the clothes they are wearing or whether or not their watch is a Rolex®. But does anyone even look at the actual person anymore? Does sustenance even matter anymore?

Here I go with yet another of my infamous stories:

I wasn't born into money, as folks say they were. I was pretty darn poor, to be honest. I was ashamed of my background and of where I come from. Even today, I fear someone not being able to understand it. However, not having a lot meant that I could appreciate what I did have. And that's better than a lot of money. Now my family and I live comfortably and we couldn’t ask for a better life. And if I want something (within a reasonable price range, not anything drastic. I still won't purchase my own iPod.) Then I am capable of buying it. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten to appreciate the little things in life. No, I probably wouldn't get all excited if all I got for Christmas was a butter knife, but 20 years later, I'd probably still have it and I'd use it to butter my child's toast in the mornings. Heck, I'd pass it on as a new priceless family heirloom.

A lot of my peers come from good families. I know two of them even come from very wealthy families. (But I would never tell you who they are.) And I just don't fit in with these classmates of mine. But that's okay, because I don't want to. They are as shallow as the silver- lined kiddie pool their parents bought them when they were three. No sustenance and they're totally rude. But it's tolerated and accepted because their families have money. I ask you, is that fair? The answer to that riddle folks, is no. But that's how it is.

I wonder how society could have even gotten to the point where we value money over morals. Are we all so shallow that we don't see that we are paving the path to self- destruction? At what point will it be safe for the "less fortunate" yet morally right folks to some out of hiding, look straight into the eyes of our materialistic society, and say, "Alright, that's enough."