The Money Chase:

About the Book

Contemplating the relationships among government, business, and the people leads to a number of questions about the quality of our modern-day lifestyle.  How free are we?  How much of our life belongs to us?  How much belongs to the government?  How many weeks of the year do we work for ourselves?  How many do we work for the government?  How many of our wants are our own?  How many have been implanted by marketeers seeking to mold our wishes?  Do we work to buy what we need and want, or do we work to buy what the desire-stimulators want us to desire, thinking that we need it?  What is the good life?  Is running in the money chase the way to achieve it?  What are our goals in life?  Is running in the money chase the way to acquire them?

Of course, the answers to these questions vary from individual to individual, and rightly so.  Many, probably the majority, are completely satisfied to run in the money chase willing to sacrifice a large portion of their life for the government in order to have enough money to participate in the self indulgence and planned obsolescence of our commercial and materialistic world the remainder of the year.  They thoroughly enjoy "keeping up with the Joneses", being one of the first to possess the latest fad, "shopping until they drop", and not having to provide for their own needs.  They like buying new clothes, eating at fine restaurants, having a late-model, expensive car, and playing with the most recent and most powerful computer.  They feel a strong sense of accomplishment with regard to their high salary, and they strive mightily to earn more every year.  Their happiness and their lifestyle are dependent upon their possessions.  In their opinion, the money is worth the cost.

Some people, however, probably a minority, are dissatisfied with the money chase.  Vaguely uneasy with their circumstances, they ask themselves if the benefits justify the effort, if the money is worth the cost.  They spurn dependence and pursue independence.  They prefer playing their own music to dancing to the tune of the government or business.  They yearn for time to enjoy life:  to stop for a moment to glory in the sunrise, to admire the cheery brightness of the spring flowers, to watch a slowly drifting white cloud in a clear blue sky, to sit for an idle moment in the cool shade, to take a long leisurely walk along the river, to rock slowly in rhythm to the soft calls of the birds as the dark western horizon slowly swallows the glowing orange evening sun.  They question the modern definition of the good life under the control of the government and the influence of business.  They ask themselves if the good life consists of working several months out of each year for the government in order to work the remainder of the year to earn enough money to buy what business convinces them what they need and want.  They are not sure that having the good life means having the government and business tell them what they need and to take care of those needs.  They are aware of the superficiality and waste related to the see, buy, and discard planned obsolescence economy, and they wonder if there is not a more desirable alternative.

About the Author

After 35 years of teaching, 12 books published, and a much larger number of articles included in referred journals, I am a professor emeritus from the University of Virginia. My wife and I live on 22 peaceful acres in West Tennessee where we have a large organic garden and grow most of what we eat. Thanks to my wife, we have daily a wonderful feast of healthful food. I have been fortunate enough to have been, at different times, both materially poor and materially well off during my stimulating sojourn in our marvelous world. At all times, however, I have resisted being dragged by our culture into the money chase, the obsession with money and what it can buy. Based on these personal experiences and considerable research, I have prepared The Money Chase: Counting the Cost.