MAANDAG 3 NOVEMBER 2003
[Wat maak ’n mens as jy iets reeds honderd keer gesê het, maar dit nog ’n keer wil noem, miskien met een of twee addisionele opmerkings? Jy skryf dit in ’n ander taal. Die ander rede hoekom ek hierdie stuk in Engels geskryf het, is omdat “onkundige lyfeiene” nie so lekker beledigend klink soos “ignorant serf” nie.]
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To say money is important is the same as to say “It’s cold” when you’re standing stark naked in two feet of snow in sub-zero temperatures. Both are absurd understatements that disregards the severity of the actual situation.
The importance of money cannot and should never be underestimated. But to stop at the realisation of the importance of money would be to only acknowledge half the truth. To remain caught up in the singular pursuit of money when you’re not engaged anymore in a daily struggle for survival is to be an ignorant former serf, too recently released from his servitude to know any better.
I can go one step further. Being in a position to afford more noble and/or creative pursuits in terms of both time and money, and to not pursue them, is indeed to be the most pathetic class of serf imaginable – one in seemingly perpetual mental servitude. And this applies not only to “those rich folks up on the hill”. It is equally valid for the average citizen who wastes his or her life while in actual fact being capable of a life worthy of being called human.
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