The Cost of Our Riches

The Cost of Our Riches

[“As long as our civilization is essentially one with property, of fences, of exclusiveness it will be mocked by delusions. Our riches will leave us sick; there will be bitterness in our laughter; and our wine will burn our mouth. The only good that profits are the ones we can taste with all doors wide open, and which serves all men.]”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A universal and all-inclusive vision, for sure! While he could be considered to be among the “landed gentry” of Concord, I do not believe that his approach to self and society was self-serving, stingy, or in any way cramped by narrow social proprieties and their illusions. 

As I understand this particular Emersonian reflection, I feel a sense of regret and despair about how America is developing into a more capitalist, individualistic culture; a society that makes little room for brother/sisterhood that is essential for a more egalitarian society to survive or thrive.

Another thought… which I cannot support academically, but feel that comes through in this quote, is his observations of what a competitive and materialistic culture exacts from the individual soul. In order to participate or “succeed” in the popular realms of social approval and recognition of one’s status, we have to cultivate a kind of self-centeredness. 

When either envy or jealousy is an active emotion, when covetous emotions become acceptable, then the bitterness of life that Emerson speaks of becomes a common taste while the appetite for savoring or sharing becomes more difficult to achieve.