Real quick I’d just like to share this link with you guys from StevePavlina.com:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/12/making-money-consciously/

I think that this is most definitely one of the most fantastic articles I’ve read from something of a more personal source, out of the mainstream. Steve Pavlina is unique in that he is making a living through unconventional means, he is not one of those guys you read about in Business Week, or whatever – he’s the real deal; an average joe, a typical guy, one of the people we might meet on the street. And through pulling over 2 million visitors to his website, he is generating enough income on advertising alone to live off of.

So having said that, Steve definitely is not a bad guy to listen to when it comes to financial advice or making money; he knows what he’s talking about.

My favorite part of what he’s talking about is here:

If you think about it, there are two basic ways to earn money:1. Make a social contribution, and receive payment commensurate with the social value of your contribution.

2. Take advantage of market inefficiencies to extract money without contributing any value.

Option 1 includes getting a job, running a business that provides products or services, reselling items with value added, or investing in any of these outlets. Option 2 includes reselling items without added value, gambling, mooching off others, crime, or investing in any of these.

Here’s another way of labeling these two strategies:

1. Contribute.

2. Mooch.

Unless you’ve somehow opted out of the monetary system, you’re using one or both of these two strategies right now. One strategy will likely be dominant in your life — either you’re creating genuine social value and being paid for it, or you’re mooching off the value created by others.

Note that #1 is essential for the monetary system to survive and thrive, but #2 is not. The only way moochers can survive is by extracting value from the contributors. But ultimately someone must contribute, or there can be no value for the moochers to extract.

With a high emphasis on contribution to society, Pavlina remains very positive in his viewpoint, and reading this causes one to ask the question, “Am I one to mooch or one to contribute?” I think at some point, everyone does a little bit of both, though I’m not so sure ‘mooch’ is always a word that fits every context of pulling value from societal contributions.

It’s an interesting concept, though, the importance of societal contribution. It makes me ask: how important is societal contribution for the success of society, and what role does money play in that? I look around me, at the people I know, and how many people are contributing?

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