money

I always wanted to spend my money after my will but the recent discussion about spending money had changed my former concept. I had a fruitful(плодотворный) discussion with Mr Robert, a senior professor in my School in Tashkent. He teaches economics to graduate students. He believed that people should have money in the head, not in the heart. Money is only a tool. But it will not make the things done until someone uses it correctly. Overall, it was a pleasant discussion with him.

Mr Robert was taking a class about spending and saving money. In fact, he owned some ideologies. He never spent money before having that. So, he was talking to the class about money management. After the class, I went to meet him and he explained everything to me. I wanted to justify(оправдывать) the way I was spending money for myself. Mr Robert explained the issues one after another and I was simply impressed with the examples. 

After lots of arguments, I admitted that I made mistakes in money management. He advised me to never to lose money. Actually, I used to spend unnecessarily. And I told him the matters to get some good suggestions. In the end, I got a different insight. I did finally realised that money is not the most important thing in the world. Moreover. I pledged(обещанный) to be careful in the future about money management.

The discussion attracted me for its nature. I was unfamiliar with the ways of savings. And after the detail estimation, it was evident that I was in the wrong direction. Accordingly, I started following his advice and find everything right with me. Interestingly, I did exactly the same things that Mr Robert suggested me at that time.

PART 3

Money and young people

Why do some parents give their children money to spend each week?

Actually, I think, they give their children money to spend on some of their favourite foods such as chocolates, ice-creams, different types of chips etc. They also give money to them so that they can buy some stationary items like pens, pencils, notebooks and some toys. Sometimes some parents give a handful of money to their child which is not good. It might put them in some sort of risks.

Do you agree that schools should teach children how to manage money?

Well, in my opinion, it might be a very good idea if they are the taught the basics of economics in schools, yes. We know that money management is a great life skill. So, the school should take the responsibility to teach them on how to spend money in the best ways possible. They should also teach them on how to save money and the value of saving money for future. It’s a very significant lesson that will remain with them forever.

Do you think it is a good idea for students to earn money while studying?

Well, this depends highly on the circumstances of the students. If needs be, they can earn money in the best way possible and there is no shame in it. I personally did some teaching in education centers while I was a student. This was due to my financial situations and I think this part-time job not only helped me financially but also gave me a strong foundation for taking challenges and setting my future goal.

Money and society

Do you think it is true that in today’s society money cannot buy happiness?

As a matter of fact, it can in a sense. Money is very important in this competitive world and we can enjoy a comfortable, even a luxurious life if we have a handsome amount of money. We can plan for a better future life and achieve our dreams. But still, it is true that money cannot buy happiness. True happiness of life lies in contentment. Earning a lot of money cannot buy it. If we are satisfied in our works and sustain happily, we can be happy. I know many rich people who have every modern facilities and amenities in their life, yet they feel empty all the time.

So, money can give us some worldly comfort for sure, but we can assume safely that true happiness lies in contentment with whatever we have in life.

What disadvantages are there in a society where the gap between rich and poor is very large?

I think the main problem that this gap between the rich and the poor creates is antipathy among the poor about the rich. They always think that the rich are corrupted which might not be true all the time. Hard-working people can be successful defying all the odds of life. The poor might not think about them. They might generalize everything. Being wealthy is clearly a target of everyone in this society. But it is not so easy to earn a large amount of money easily in this competitive world because there is always a job crisis in the market. For this reason, the gap between the poor and the rich is amplifying day by day. It also puts society in a vacillating situation. Even people who try heart and soul to make the society a sustainable balance become afraid of doing so because they are very few in numbers. We are all aware of the quote “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This actually happens in real-time where there is a serious gap between the rich and the poor. Rich people start to dominate so much that they forget about ethics of life and moving forward together. The poor suffer from all sorts of disadvantages such as unemployment, hunger, poverty and so on. This leads to the increasing rate of crime and insecurity in society.

Do you think richer countries have a responsibility to help poorer countries?

There is no better way than this. I think it is a responsibility for the richer countries to come forward and take steps to improve the conditions in poorer countries. Here they can gain profits as well. Countries which are financially strong need markets to sell their products to. In this case helping the poor countries can, at the same time, develop emerging markets in those nations and serves the interests of rich countries. But, more importantly, the rich countries should educate the citizens of poor countries and make them skilled so that they can shape their own future. Otherwise, rich countries will only gain profits from those nations, which in return, increase the gap further. So, I believe, an extensive plan is needed which can be effectively applied for the development of those poorer countries so that none can take a major advantage from them. Only proper and kind thoughts to help the countries go forward can fulfill this plan. Rich countries have all the resources to help a striving nation move forward. So, it is indeed their responsibility to help them.