Philosophical Footnotes: The Power Of Gold

It was January 24th 1848 when John Marshall first discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in California. Despite his attempts to keep it a secret, it was the beginning of the California gold rush. Over the next seven years, three hundred thousand people migrated to California to find their fortune. Others found their fortune piggybacking on the hopes and dreams of those with gold fever by supplying the essentials needed to survive.

Gold has been an addiction of man since before recorded history and it remains a symbol of richness and wealth. It is also used to back up the value of our paper money by virtue of the gold standard. The word gold is derived from Latin “aurum” meaning “glow of sunrise”.

Have you ever stopped to wonder how hard it was for people of the 1800’s to leave all that they knew to go to a remote area of California and mine for gold, all for the chance to live a more lavish lifestyle. One could speculate that prospectors imagined themselves saddled high on a horse, directing hired hands to manage their new sprawling ranch. Wouldn’t this be the life for an 1800’s period cowboy?

Let’s face it, gold is gold and it is pretty and all but if it had no value, no one would be clamoring to get it. What gives it its value? In my opinion it is the hunger for power and prestige which is a hangover from our earliest days of human beings where the rules were to eat or be eaten. Gold is the currency of the survival of the fittest and those with a win at all cost mentality.

Material wealth is not bad, until it becomes all consuming. More than once have I performed in front of well to do people who’s emotions go up and down with the market. Even sadder are those who are just unhappy with how they spent their life. The hollow feeling of asking yourself, “Is this it? Is this all I am? Is this all I get out of life?” This line from the song “The Power of Gold” by Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg express this beautifully. …. “Balance the cost of the soul you lost with the dreams you lightly sold….”

While gold can motivate my dreams, it is not the thing I strive for in life. My goal is success, but not for money’s sake. I want to be successful but a big part of that success is personal happiness and contentment. Money is just the bi-product of success but once the focus becomes money, you lose your way and become wrapped up in your own gold fever. One of my favorite books of all time is “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. He mentions the 12 steps to TRUE Wealth

1. A Positive Mental Attitude
2. Sound Physical Health
3. Harmony in Human Relationships
4. Freedom From Fear
5. The Hope of Future
6. The Capacity for Applied Faith
7. Willingness to share one's blessings with others
8. To be engaged in a labor of love
9. An open mind on all subjects toward all people
10. Complete self disicipline
11. Wisdom with which to understand people
12. Financial Security

And he points out that Financial Security is the last on the list. How do you stack up in these areas.

Gold is the color used to indicate the sale of 500 thousand records. When record plates were worn out, they were gold plated and presented to the artist as a token of their success.