by Peter Messerschmidt

Created on: May 31, 2008

One time wannabe Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman once observed "Money can buy you a fancy dog, but only love can make him wag his tail."

Any time I come across a debate related to the issue of whether or not it's "good" to be rich (from birth, or otherwise) that comment pops into my mind- perhaps because this is ultimately an issue of "What is going to make me happy, in life?" And having grown up among some very rich individuals, I saw very little evidence that wealth made anyone happy. In fact I saw more alcohol and substance abuse, as well as depression and suicide attempts, than I have seen with any other group of people. So, from a purely experiential point of view, I'd much rather be born intelligent than rich.

A couple of other things spring to mind, as I consider this debate.

I believe there is a great difference between being BORN rich, and BECOMING rich, through your own ingenuity and hard work. As human beings, we tend to derive pleasure, satisfaction and a measure of contentment from the creative process, itself. If you look at the daily news, more often than not the "troubled" individuals who make the headlines are the born-to-wealth likes of billionaire heiress Paris Hilton, rather than the self-made likes of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. After all, how can you possibly know the "value" of money, if you never actually had to work for it?

Don't get me wrong- I have nothing against money or wealth. But consider this: the old saying "A fool and his money are soon parted" is much more than an empty saying. Managing and maintaining wealth is a very complex process. If you are born to riches but lack intelligence, how do you propose to manage your money so as to continue being rich into old age, rather than just burning through your stash of cash? And yes, there ARE people who are born rich AND intelligent- but THIS particular debate is phrased as an "either/or" question.

Ultimately, though, what "seals the deal" for me is the issue of permanence vs transience. Barring a horrible accident or illness, intelligence is permanent- and it can help you (re)create wealth, even after you lose your wealth. If you are born intelligent, you will ALWAYS have that. Riches can be temporary and fleeting; a fortune can be erased overnight as a result of misfortune, economic downturns or a poor business decision. I have seen this in my own family, multiple times- every generation since the 1870's has included multi-millionaires who lost everything and rebuilt their wealth from scratch, using little more than their intelligence and insight. Some did it more than once, in their lifetimes. Without intelligence, would they have been able to rebuild their fortunes?

Being born rich might look nice- on paper- but the majority of the time, true wealth is created by intelligence. Hence I'd rather be born intelligent, than rich.

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