MONEY AND POWER In the re alm of power, everything must be judged by its cost, and everything has a price. What is offered for free or at b...
MONEY AND POWER In the re alm of power, everything must be judged by its cost, and everything has a price. What is offered for free or at bargain rates often comes with a psychological price tag-complicated feelings of obligation, compromises with quality, the insecurity those compromises bring, on and on. The powerful learn early to protect their most valuable resources: independence and room to maneuver. By paying the full price, they keep themselves free of dangerous entanglements and worries. Being open and flexible with money also teaches the value of strategie generosity, a variation on the old trick of "giving when you are about to take." By giving the appropriate gift, you put the recipient under obligation. Generosity softens people up--to be deceived. By gaining a reputation for liberality, you win people's admiration while distracting them from your power plays. By strategically spreading your wealth, you charm the other courtiers, creating pleasure and making valuable allies. Look at the masters of power-the Caesars, the Queen Elizabeths, the Michelangelos, the Medicis:
Not a miser among them. Even the great con artists spend freely to swindle. Tight purse strings are unattractive--when engaged in seduction, Casanova would give completely not only of himself but of his wallet. The powerful understand that money is psychologically charged, and that it is also a vessei of politeness and sociability. They make the human side of money a weapon in their armory. For everyone able to play with money, thousands more are locked in a self-destructive refusal to use money creatively and strategically. These types represent the opposite pole to the powerful, and you must leam to recognize them-either to avoid their poisonous natures or to turn their inflexibility to your advantage: The Greedy Fish. The greedy fish take the human side out of money
. Cold and ruthless, they see only the lifeless balance sheet; viewing others solely as either pawns or obstructions in their pursuit of wealth, they trample on people's sentiments and alienate valuable allies. No one wants to work with the greedy fish, and over the years they end up isolated, which often proves their undoing. Greedy fish are the con artist's bread and butter: Lured by the bait of easy money, they swallow the ruse hook, line, and sinker. They are easy to deceive, for they spend so much time dealing with numbers (not with peopIe) that they become blind to psychology, including their own. Either avoid them before they exploit you or play on their greed to your gain. The Bargain Demon. Powerful people judge everything by what it costs, not just in money but in time, dignity, and peace of mind. And this is exactly what Bargain Demons cannot do.
Wasting valuable time digging for bargains, they worry endlessly about what they could have gotten elsewhere for a little less. On top of that, the bargain item they do buy is often shabby; perhaps it needs costly repairs, or will have to be replaced twice as fast as a high-quality item. The costs of these pursuits-not always in money (though the price of a bargain is often deceptive) but in time and peace of mind-discourage normal people from undertaking them, but for the Bargain Demon the bargain is an end in itself. These types might seem to harm only themselves, but their attitudes are contagious: Unless you resist them they will infect you with the inseeure feeling that you should have looked harder to find a cheaper price. Don't argue with them or try to change them. Just mentally add up the eost, in time and inner peace if not in hidden financial expense, of the irrational pursuit of a bargain. The Sadist. Financial sadists play vicious power games with money as a way of asserting their power. They might, for example, make you wait for money that is owed you, promising you that the check is in the mail. Or if they hire you to work for them, they meddle in every aspect of the job, haggling and giving you ulcers. Sadists seem to think that paying for something gives them the right to torture and abuse the seIler. They have no sense of the courtier element in money. If you are unlucky enough to get involved with this type, accepting a financial loss may be better in the long run than getting entangled in their destructive power games. The Indiscriminate Giver. Generosity has a definite function in power: It attracts people, softens them up, makes allies out of them. But it has to be used strategically, with a definite end in mind. Indiscriminate Givers, on the other hand, are generous because they want to be loved and admired by all. And their generosity is so indiscriminate and needy that it may not have the desired effect: If they give to one and all, why should the recipient feel special? Attractive as it may seem to make an Indiscriminate Giver your mark, in any involvement with this type you will often feel burdened by their insatiable emotional needs. TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW Transgression I Mter Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru, in 1532,
gold from the Incan Empire began to pour into Spain, and Spaniards of all classes started dreaming of the instant riches to be had in the New World. The story so on spread of an Indian chief to the east of Peru who once each year would ritually cover himself in gold dust and dive into a lake. Soon word of mouth transformed EI Dorado, the "Golden Man," into an empire called EI Dorado, wealthier than the Incan, where the streets were paved and the buildings inlaid with gold. This elaboration of the story did not seem implausible, for surely a chief who could afford to waste gold dust in a lake must rule a golden empire. Soon Spaniards were searching for EI Dorado all over northem South America. from their inability to make a living and their laziness in this respect. They should not occupy themselves with absurdities and untrue stories.
THE MUOADDIMAH, IBN KHALDÜN, 1332-1 406 TllE M ISER A miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had and converted it into a great lump of gold, which he hid in a hole in the ground, and went continually to visit and inspect it. This roused the curiosity of one of his workmen, who, suspecting that there was a treasure. when his master's back was turned, went to the spot, and stole it away. When the miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But a neighbor who saw him in this extravagant griej, and learned the cause of it, said: "Fret thyselfno longer, but take a stone and put it in the same place, and thin k that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to use it, the one will do you as much good as the other. " The worth of money is not in its possession, but in its use. FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.e. LAW 40 335 There is a popular saying in Japan that goes "Tada yori takai mono wa nai," meaning: "Nothing is more costly than something given free of charge. " THE UNSPOKEN WAY, MICHIHIRO MATSUMOTO, 1 988 MONEY Yusuf Ibn Jafar elAmudi used to take sums of money, sometimes very large ones, from those who came to study wirh him. A distinguished legalist visiting him on ce said:
"1 am enchanted and impressed by your teachings, and I am sure that you are directing your disciples in a proper manner. But it is not in accordance with tradition to take money for knowledge. Besides, the action is open to misinterpretation. " El-Amudi said: "1 have ne ver sold any knowledge. There is no money on earth sufficient to pay for it. As for misinterpretation, the abstaining from ta king money will not prevent it, for it will find some other object. Rather should you know that a man who takes money may be greedy for money, or he may not. But a man who takes nothing at all is under the gravest 336 LAW 40 In February of 1541, the largest expedition yet in this venture, led by Pizarro's brother Gonzalo, left Quito, in Ecuador. Resplendent in their armors and colorful silks,
340 Spaniards headed east, along with 4,000 Indians to carry supplies and serve as scouts, 4,000 swine, dozens of llamas, and elose to 1,000 dogs. Eut the expedition was so on hit by torrential rain, which rotted its gear and spoiled its food. Meanwhile, as Gonzalo Pizarro questioned the Indians they met along the way, those who seemed to be withholding information, or who had not even heard of the fabulous kingdom, he would torture and feed to the dogs. Word of the Spaniards' murderousness spread quickly among the Indians, who realized that the only way to avoid Gonzalo's wrath was to make up stories about EI Dorado and send hirn as far away as possible. As Gonzalo and his men followed the leads the Indians gave them, then, they were only led farther into deep jungle. The explorers' spirits sagged. Their uniforms had long since shredded;
their armor rusted and they threw it away; their shoes were tom to pieces, forcing them to walk barefoot; the Indian slaves they had set out with had either died or deserted them; they had eaten not only the swine but the hunting dogs and llamas. They lived on roots and fruit. Realizing that they could not continue this way, Pizarro decided to risk river travel, and a barge was built out of rotting wood. Eut the journey down the treacherous Napo River proved no easier. Setting up camp on the river's edge, Gonzalo sent scouts ahead on the barge to find Indian settlements with food.
He waited and waited for the scouts to return, only to find out they had decided to desert the expedition and continue down the river on their own. The rain continued without end. Gonzalo's men forgot about EI Dorado; they wanted only to return to Quito. Finally, in August of 1542, a little over a hundred men, from an expedition originally numbering in the thousands, managed to find their way back. To the residents of Quito they seemed to have emerged from hell itself, wrapped in tatters and skins, their bodies covered in sores, and so emaciated as to be unrecognizable. For over a year and a half they had marched in an enormous cirele, two thousand miles by foot. The vast sums of money invested in the expedition had yielded nothing-no sign of EI Dorado and no sign of gold. Interpretation Even after Gonzalo Pizarro's disaster, the Spaniards launched expedition after expedition in search of EI Dorado. And like Pizarro the conquistadors would bum and loot villages, torture Indians, endure unimaginable hardships, and get no eloser to gold. The money they spent on such expeditions cannot be calculated; yet despite the futility of the search, the lure of the fantasy endured. Not only did the search for EI Dorado cost millions of lives-both Indian and Spanish-it helped bring the ruin of the Spanish empire. Gold became Spain's obsession.
The gold that did find its way back to Spain-and a lot did-was reinvested in more expeditions, or in the purehase of luxuries, rather than in agriculture or any other productive endeavor. Whole Spanish towns were depopulated as their menfolk left to hunt gold. Farms fell into ruin, and the army had no recruits for its European wars. By the end of the seventeenth century, the entire country had shrunk by more than half of its population; the city of Madrid had gone from a population of 400,000 to 150,000. With diminishing returns from its efforts over so many years, Spain fell into a decline from which it never recovered. Power requires self-discipline. The prospect of wealth, particularly easy, sudden wealth, plays havoc with the emotions. The suddenly rich believe that more is always possible. The free lunch, the money that will fall into your lap, is just around the corner. In this delusion the greedy neglect everything power really depends on: self-control, the goodwill of others, and so on. Understand: With one exception-death-no lasting change in fortune comes quickly. Sudden wealth rarely lasts, for it is built on nothing solid. Never let lust for money lure you out of the protective and enduring fortress of real power. Make power your goal and money will find its way to you. Leave EI Dorado for suckers and fools
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