No money, no talk, no power
Money is a sensitive topic, but understanding its value is essential to your future. I am fortunate to have a father who sends me daily finance articles and regularly informs me of the power of money. (We watched The Suze Orman Show together sometimes.) However, even with a solid, foundational knowledge of money and investments, it still took me a while to consistently follow a budget. But this is not about that.
This article is not about finance but the idea of money in relation to power and freedom.
Money, power, and freedom are connected concepts that root back to the struggles of our ancestors. This intersection has created and destroyed social classes in several civilizations throughout history. It explains injustice — for example, why certain people are incarcerated and why others are not. Capitalism supports the rise of those with money, endowing them with power and ultimately more freedom. As a result, this adverse intersectionality becomes a disabler for the impoverished and maltreated.
There is this beloved family quote by my late grandfather who once was a successful businessman in Vietnam.
“No money, no talk.”
My cousins and I say these words as a joke whenever we don’t have enough money to pay for something. However, this short phrase indicates a reality more complex than a mere quote. That is,
Without money, you have no power or credibility in society.
I see this truth in the stories my father tells me of his desolate childhood. He was extremely poor in which he had only two sets of clothes, one pencil to use for the entire school year, and with no money to his name. At six years old, he had no choice but to live with his relatives since his parents were unable to feed all their nine children.
What I find extremely respectable about my father is how he prioritized his virtue and defied the immoral temptations he faced as a poverty-stricken boy. Early on, he decided he rather starve than borrow money, even from those who raised him. However unsurprisingly, people did not see my father’s righteous character and scrutinized his empty pockets. He told me about how people would act condescendingly towards him through their words and facial expressions because they knew how little he had.
When he grew older, my father vowed to do everything in his power so his children would not have to experience the same degrading treatment. My parents lived frugally and saved viciously to satisfy their children’s basic needs. We have lived a modest lifestyle in which we are lucky enough to have education as our primary focus. I have learned to save money by commuting, limiting purchases, and budgeting to pay off debt; now helping with our family bills.
By listening to these stories, I quickly understood the value of money and the benefits wealth can yield. Money is not everything. Money does not precede family, relationships, and other priorities. Nonetheless, money is still a tool you need to move up in this world and build a better life than the generations before you. Though money should not be worshipped or selfishly harbored, its essentiality cannot be ignored. Thus, it should be used intentionally.
Money is an enabler to achieving the life you want to live.
I urge you to take care of yourself financially. Understand what your hard-earned money is worth. Manage your finances. Save for your future.
Money can help you gain power and freedom, but most importantly, the respect and prestige you deserve.
Related links I love: Lynne Twist’s “The Soul of Money” on Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations — If you check it out, let’s talk about it!
This article is inspired by my father and his journey, my grandfather’s timeless adage, and a scene in the pilot episode of Billions — when Robert Axelrod speaks to Sam Gilroy, a Wall Street Journal reporter, about how people treat him differently now that he’s a billionaire. That scene was the tipping point.
Thank you to the mains Theresa Tran and Phoebe Lee for editing this post.
