Since the DotCom bust until now, the Social Media Bubble is becoming (if you believe such a thing), many millionaires and billionaires are created due to stock options and demands for talents, many also envy. These days, listening to the radio to/from work, read news on the internet, people are complaining about MONEY is Unevenly (or Unfairly) distributed (income inequality) and the Media seems to concern and care about the matter passionately, they even have a series about these less fortunate people. Why would you want to do something that you can’t change or fix because it’s not the system, it’s the people. Since when Money is printed and distributed among people, who does the distributing? Why don’t we go back to the beginning of time – Why does MONEY exist?
[title]What’s Money And Why People Are Chasing It?[/title][body]
If I read correctly, before money existed, people have to bring something of values to the market to trade for something they need or want. If you’re a chicken, you may trade for a piece of steak or fish or a chair to seat or to get your disease cured by a medical doctor (the Dr. may want 5 chickens for a cold). When you don’t have anything to trade, you offer your labor for something.
Yes, the Medical Doctors may not have rooms to hold all the chickens people bring when he/she cures the sicks, and no rooms for more chairs or refrigerators to store steaks… Money was designed to be a medium for trading things and this medium is supposedly secured by something valuable like gold.
Philosophical me, I believe money is the rewards for good things you do for yourself, your family, your community, your country and human kind. The more people your work or your product benefit, the greater the sum of money you’ll get. You don’t have to chase money, it will come as reward for your productive work because it’s the law of nature.
Why Bill Gates has so much money, because his product “Microsoft” benefit millions of people. Why young 30 year old Mark Zuckerberg has billion of dollars? Because his software makes millions of lonely people happy. Why drug dealers make so much money, because they also make millions of lonely, depress people feel better… regardless if the work is moral or not, as long as you contribute to make good for the human kind. So, I serve in Mc Donald and make hundreds of people fill their stomachs every day, why don’t I make much money? How do I compare myself with people who benefits millions or greater cause?
Medical Doctors. nurses or medical technicians make good money, more than fast food servers, although they don’t serve many people, but they deal with saving people from pain, suffering and death.
People are chasing money, complain about money, and never understand why money exists and how to get money… If you don’ t benefit anyone, you don’t get rewards. How many chickens did you raise and bring to market?
If there are no lonely people, no technologies, no smart phones, no computers, do you think there are many millionaires working for Social Websites? I think not. So what and how do I bring to the market to get more rewards (MONEY) for me and my family?
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[title1]What Do I Want To Bring To Silicon Valley Market? Chickens, Cows, Pigs, Vegetable or Me With What Silicon Valley Demands?[/title1][body1]
Many years ago, I, a VN refugee in late 20’s, staring at the ceiling of a small 1 bedroom duplex in the dark, no job, no money, in debt, no girlfriend, alone, desperate, thinking the world was terrible and I felt I had no way out. I always thought America is the land of opportunities and a great nation. I could have everything I wanted if I put my minds to it, but it was just a myth or a saying to motivate people, because to me, it’s so hard, especially for someone who didn’t speak English well, looks different from everyone else, the Asian look is totally stand out from everyone. I’m not strong or big enough to do heavy labor work.
I was so desperate that I actually PRAYED for the ability to see the light of will and knowledge to be a better person. “What I have today is the results of what I’ve done yesterday and before…”
I fell to sleep while chanting inside my head, woke up in the morning, felt like a new person, started to clean up the room, washed the dishes in the sink, tidy up everything in the house and drew out a plan for my future. I took out all credit cards and check the balances – I decided to use credit cards to fund my education – the goal is a bachelor of Electrical Electronic Engineering. I drove my sister old, faded Honda Civic hatch back that she used for her college, to my college, get the transcript of 2 years going there, to Cal State LA to apply for Engineering school.
“I have to be productive, be truthful, be nice to myself so I can be honest and nice to others… I don’t know what I want, but I know what I don’t want: be unproductive, mean, lazy, be poor and lonely, especially in the land of opportunities, US of A.”
I took as many classes as I could at Cal State LA, chose the toughest professors, went to classes every day, sat in the front, listened and took notes well… came home, did homework, time went by fast and I got my BS degree in 2 1/2 years…
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[title2]Try some other career before settle to the one I really like[/title2][body2]
I believe I have great personalities (be nice, be honest, be passionate with myself, I can be the same with people around me, and that’s the key to be well), I called up a car dealership and asked for a salesman job. Car Salesman is famous for the bad wrap of NOT being honest. I got the job over the phone. I started to work as a new/used car salesman. I was the top salesman in the 2nd month, although I didn’t make much money because I did help people to buy with fair prices. I didn’t push people to buy car that they couldn’t afford. I made little commissions, but the volumes did help the income. I became a fleet manager after a few years. When I decided that one day I would get married and have a family, I needed to find a job that I could have weekends off to be with my family, car salesman wasn’t a right career for me and my future family, I got back into technical and corporate world, be an engineer and moved to Silicon Valley from Southern California. The key word is Career – A career that fits me and my family life style; paid well and have enough demands in Silicon Valley. There are many well paid careers in Silicon Valley, and NONE of them requires NOTHING from you. They require skills and hard work, especially our brains. Yes, studying and thinking hurt our heads, but that’s why little people make big bucks. There are other careers that paid well and do not require education or thinking, but they do need brawns. Again, what do you bring to Silicon Valley Market?
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[title3]Money In Silicon Valley[/title3][body3]
Silicon Valley is the heart of all technologies – All famous tech companies reside there – I never knew what stock options were until I got here. All my sisters and their husbands had the taste of money from stock options, I jumped on the bandwagon. Jobs were abundant, but money is only rewarded to technical people who help the companies to excel. My younger sister who never went to school, followed others to come to Silicon Valley, I really opposed, but she was making $40k/year doing data entry, who am I to say anything. The dotcom was over and now she’s working for Target making near minimum wage living with my mom, life isn’t so pretty.
Being engineers, thanks to integrity, honesty, being nice and helpful to co-workers, and I have survived many lay offs when times were tough, stock options started to worth something. I realized to have a great family in Silicon Valley, my family must have 2 good incomes, I married an Engineer. We both owed money while being singles, but we had a great plan, we worked hard, we saved, we paid off debts, we don’t need to show off, we build our little family… we write our own story – not a shabby one. We took pictures by the Chrismas tree every year… from small apartment – small tree to bigger ones with our kids – Now we look back – our hard work and together plans reward us well.
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[title4]Income Inequality In SiliconValley[/title4][body4]
If we believe in people are born equal – then why social inequality exist? Yes, there are great many laws to protect the so called “less equal” like me, like many other immigrants or minority groups, but I should not use these laws to feel pity for myself and do nothing, blaming societies for my failures, my ignorance, I should use them to better myself – the bottom line is “my reward (income) is for what I produce and how much I produce determine the size of my reward” – “what do I bring to the market?”
The US of A is big and there are many states for people to live, to be productive with many different skills needed, pick your “fancy”. In Silicon Valley, I don’t have to be an engineer to be productive, there are other jobs, other skill sets needed in the market, find the one that fit my personality, my physical strength, my ability to produce. Yes, I’d love to work for Google, Facebook or other big companies that give free lunches, free dinners, great benefits, great salaries and stock options, but I wasn’t prepared for those companies and I could find my own place to be happy and produce, again “there are no free lunches” as they say, everything comes with sacrifices.
Born Americans many decades ago were almost guaranteed a comfortable life, but not any more, technologies bring competitions to the market, immigrants create competitions. There are more hypocrites now than ever before: advocates for the immigrants, the poor, the olds, the single mothers, the abandoned children, the green, the blue… whatever. The media lives on the less fortunate, create series of “compassionate stories”, pat them in the back like they care, but NONE tell them the truth, because the truth hurts, the truth requires too much work… It’s better to give them fishes to eat now than to train them how to fish. Raising the minimum wages for people to still live in poverty and killing the businesses at the same time.
Our family always helps my little sister who doesn’t have the will to study, to be better. I think it’s also our fault, if the family members didn’t help her, gave her money when in needs, cut her loose, let her be alone in the dark room like me many years ago, she might break out like me and be better now because unfortunate people are very smart, but only in their tiny little brains, if they can get away with little things, they will and always miss the big ones and the society’s hypocrites will make sure of that.
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