We all seem to have a natural talent for knowing what things are worth, and what we will in fact be willing to pay for them. Historically, however, it has been well documented that this process can go awry. “Tulipmania” was coined when a “rare” bulb had the equivalent value of 12 acres of land in Holland (a very small country) in 1637. Some of us are content to drive a Subaru, others must drive a Range Rover. Value is in the eye, wallet, and “self-esteem system” of the beholder.The Mississippi Scheme-Bubble (John Law, 1719), and Tulipmania are among the first and the most studied “bubbles” in (relatively) modern global finance.
In our culture it is easy to get caught up in and be seduced by trends and bubbles. If one is a collector and an enthusiast, and if you’ve ever been to at auction at Sothebys or Christies then you know full well what ‘auction fever’ can be. The excitement builds and ‘value’ is created when the hammer drops, and you’ve paid a hefty price for an object that you have fallen in love with, and which you must have.
For further study, perusal of Charles Mackay’s Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1852) is highly suggested.
Many young people (and people of all ages frankly) frequently correlate their self-worth and value as a person with their portfolio size and/or net worth. In our money driven culture one can almost not help it. However, at the center of self-esteem is an inherent evaluative/appraisal process. The interactions between self esteem and money can be profound. Literally one can “feel like a million bucks” at certain life junctures.
Determining what is important and what has meaning, and value, for you as an individual is critical. Especially when it comes to money. There’s only so much that goes around (for most of us). John D. Rockefeller kept a “book” on each of his children. They all had weekly chores, and they received an allowance based on production and task complexity. He wanted to teach them “the value of a dollar.” According to Forbes he is still considered America’s richest man relative to inflation and cost-of-living indices.
Budgeting, revenue generation, maintaining a strong credit rating (FICO score), and protecting your identity are all essential. Mastering the painful art and science of saving is very important. Contrary to “popular opinion,” and our rich fantasy lives, money does not grow on trees. Even very wealthy people have to budget if they want to avoid obstacles, and achieve their goals and missions relatively smoothly.
Peer pressure is the influence and power one’s peer group has in order to encourage or persuade a person to change their attitudes, their thinking and belief systems, their values, and even their deep inner feelings in order to conform to the group norm or ethic. It is an incredibly powerful force. There are reports of people asserting that they actually “surrendered” themselves to the group in order to be liked, approved of, and accepted. Very few of us have the wherewithal and/or courage to stand alone. Peers impact taste, likes/dislikes, one’s thinking and emotions, one’s values and beliefs, and even our spending habits!
Image, from the Latin, is an artifact that has some similar appearance to a subject. The important point here is that by definition image is not truly real, but we are led to, trained to, and persuaded to think and believe image is real! We become so finely conditioned that we think perception and image are absolute realities.
People are very curious and very interested in money, especially in what others have and where they stand in comparison. In our culture people are frequently evaluated by their portfolio size (or what others deem the ‘size’ to be). Image can be everything regardless of the underlying realities and facts of life. People brag about thier gains, and they brag about their loses. They often need to feel like they are “players.” We live in a competitive, status conscious culture where one is tempted and seduced by external forces on a nearly constant basis.
We live in a culture where we’ve been conditioned to want ‘stuff and things’ we don’t really need. The marketing language of persuasion is very powerful in the media and throughout society. Edward Bernays is considered to be the father of public relations. His work on the engineering of consent and crystallizing public opinion is widely recognized. He was instrumental in helping to create a culture of desires rather than needs. And we’ve been trained to think we need luxury items beyond the call of human comprehension in order to feel like worthy, happy, superior people. Interestingly, Bernay’s most famous work is entitled Propaganda. It was published in 1928! Am I a better, superior and more valuable and popular person if I wear “7s” vs. Wranglers? Young people are particularly vulnerable to these types of messages. The selling of innumerable products fuels and permeates our culture on a 24/7 basis. And these values are absorbed by people of all ages.
Criterion behavior focuses on what you (the individual person) bring to the table. Your imagination, inventiveness, communication skills, cognitive skills, productivity, work ethic, character, personality, courage, self-respect and respect for other people are paramount for life success. This, ultimately, is much more important than what your father does for a living, your zipcode, or the ‘reputation/rating’ of your college. These factors can be very important in terms of networking opportunities, and social connections. But when the ‘pedal hits the metal,’ we all have to ultimately drive on our own.