If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free. If our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.
Edmund Burke, an 18th century an Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher
Many of us will have seen the film, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ in which a young man raised in poverty and struggle wins the Indian version of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’. It is an amazing story of adventure and misadventure, of poverty and privilege, of victimisation and victory. It leaves the watcher of the film asking various questions, including “What would I do if I won a great deal of money?” For most of us, winning lots of money feels like a good dream but in real life, there are stories of how such a win brings stress, misery and even family break-up.
What would you do if you won a large amount of money? Would you upscale your lifestyle and live on a new material level? Would you give an amount away to charity? Would you pay off your family’s or friends’ debts? Would you invest most of the money? It can be a fun exercise to think about even though it is very unlikely that we will ever win such a big prize, but it also gets us thinking about what matters most to us in life.
These are questions we might discuss:
- Be honest! Would you like to win a lot of money? How much would you like to win?
- What would be the first thing that you would do after hearing about the prize?
- Who would you tell first? Who would you not tell?
- If you were to win a great deal of money, would you give up studying or working? What would you spend your time doing?
- What might the disadvantages be of winning a lot of money? Who or what might you lose?
- If you wanted to give some money to charity, what kind of charities would you choose first?
- We are often told, “You can’t buy happiness”. If you were richer, do you think you would be happier? Why/why not?
Come and join our Talk About on Monday 24 May at 7.30 pm, share your idea and make friends.
The Zoom ID and passcode are:
ID: 981 9526 9164
Passcode: letstalk