Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-24

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as sound an attitude toward
money as anyone-economist,
philosopher. or psychiatrist--
could wish for. For money when
1t is falsely regarded as a thing
in itself he had no use; he de-
Spised it. He told his village
followers that money in this
sense tells lies and is like a
loafing tramp"
But Bhave had great respect,
even in the spiritual world of the
Hindu, for money as a receipt
for honest work. He often told
the worshipful multitudes who
gathered at his feet that the
best kind of money, the best
medium of exchange, would
Simply be a form of script show
ing the number of hours a per-
son had worked to earn it. Thus
could a man trade labor for
labor.
Not to want money at all is
as neurotic as to want it for its
own sake. Some people make a
pose of despising money when
what they actually despise is
the other fellows money; they
would love to have more for
themselves.
Some make a pose of despis-
ing money when they are &C.
tually trying to justify their
failure to earn more of it.
Realistic Attitude
I Why not accept a realistic
attitude? The worship of money.
the misuse Of money are to be
despised. But. by Bhave's def
milton, any man or woman
Should wish to contribute to the
world as many hours as possible
OF productive work and to have
the receipts to show for it.
Any man or woman well NAV
wish to apply these hours of
work against goods of the world
which he may plan to enjoy in
the future: since work can
neither be saved nor stored. he
simply stores the receipts-and
calls this a bank account.
Money to the healthy mind is
a route to possession of material
things. That is, possession, not
obsession. Many people cannot
truly enjoy material things be-
cause they are obsessed with
them; they are so blindly driven
TO the pursuit that they cannot
enjoy the possession.
And some of the starry-eyed
among us have taken up a
disdain for all possession. as
though ownership were somehow
wicked.
In Between
Somewhere between the neu-
rotlc obSesSion and the neurotic
olSdaln is a healthy attitude
toward material things.
! am sure Socrates would have
welcomed the washing machine
as a way of relieving women of
one OF the worst forms of
drudgery Though in the light
OF MS own marital relations it
is doubtful that he would have
bought one for xanthippe). 1
40 not question that Moses
would have considered air con-
oltloning an asset in the desert
or that Jesus himself would have
accepted the tractor and the
harvester as a boon to the
farmers of Judea.
Inc Key is in ones attitude
toward things: What do Won
want them for? How will vo,,
feel about them when you get
tnem? WIZ they enrich you or
enslave you?
Four HaIImarks
A healthy attitude toward
tnlngs has four hallmarks:
/. That your possessions be-
come part of you. The things
you acquire are extensions of
your person and, like the house
You live in, become a reflection
OF you and a part of you.
z. That you love and care for
your possessions. An infant be-
gins to be a person when he
shifts from breaking toys to Ak
ing them. No one can be said
70 love pet dog if he fails to
care Tor it, and there il some-
thlng OF the same dereliction in
surrounding oneself with mate
rial things and allowing them to
become abused, neglected Junk.
8. That you help to create
your possessions, or at least
make some sacrifice to own
them. To the home gardener
no lettuce tastes quite so good
as that from the seed he planted
and nurtured. No house will be
SO well cared for as the one a
man helped build himself. No
possession will receive such love