Set aside, if you will, Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  This parley, my dear Reader, is not a cinematic pursuit; rather it is by far more pragmatic and strictly – dare I say almost punishingly – educational.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, a globetrotting archaeologist vying with Nazi German forces to recover the long-lost Ark of the Covenant which is said to make an army invincible.

As vitally as you may be inclined to believe that there is or that there is not a secret to being rich – and, be assured, there is – first one must address an even more potent discussion; namely, what is your objective in life? The priority of that dialogue subsists because, depending on the decision, all else flows therefrom. Foremost it encourages starting at the beginning not somewhere in the middle. The pursuit of one’s goals with the objective of success is a lifetime preoccupation, make no mistake; it is not a petty or ambivalent exercise. Furthermore, if nothing else, the logic of the debate (“You are what you think“) is a reminder that being rich – or. for that mater, sustaining wealth – is no accident. As Prof. Ronald J. Rolls, BA, LLB, QC. LSM of Messrs. Faskin Martineau dryly intimated at the end of his Bar Admission lectures to the eager law students at Osgoode Hall, “May you all get what you deserve“. Underlying this axiomatic deliberation is the equally apodeictic truth: You can’t have money and things. Nor parenthetically is it to be overlooked that the convincing nature of the principle derives from the expression “to show off” (an element which by no coincidence is frequently and unhappily aligned with an ignorance of the principle).

apodictic (adj.)

also apodeictic, “clearly demonstrated,” 1650s, from Latin apodicticus, from Greek apodeiktikos, from apodeiktos, verbal adjective of apodeiknynai “to show off, demonstrate, show by argument, point out, prove,” literally “to point away from” (other objects, at one), from apo “off, away” (see apo-) + deiknynai “to show”

The secret, thus expressed, appears almost trite. Yet it is guaranteed to be anything but if practiced. Ar polar opposites are two ambitions – spending money or not – the results of which are self-evident.

I hope, dear Reader, you will forgive my abruptness and seeming haughtiness when I account that I consider myself an authority upon this subject. My legitimacy however derives not from having practiced what I preach – au contraire – but instead for having gone over to the dark side, having relentlessly succumbed to the vacuous allure of materiality and all that that entails. I am living proof – beyond question, if I may punctuate the celebrity – of the aphorism that you cannot have money and things. Regrettably perhaps my authenticity lapses on the side of things rather than money. I say this as I sip my lemon/ginger tea from the Royal Albert bone china (with pinky ring suitably raised) at my mahogany desk while shifting my feet upon the precious Persian and checking th time on the Birks brass carriage clock. No doubt, you remorsefully regard this vulgar display with the pity and condescension it deserves. All I can do to escape your disdain is plead inalterable addiction or insatiability.

Like the vermin destined for the lower reaches, I attempt to dilute my sins of the past by sharing with others the preferred path of propitiation. An adjunct to the perfunctory secret – You can’t have money and things – is a similar (and no more rapidly discerned) reality that in the end it is “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” (a phrase from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer burial service).  If you do not succeed to triumph over the interminable maintenance of things, you will soon discover they haven’t any lingering attraction beyond their perpetual imperatives including insurance, caretaking, safety, maintenance, etc. Indeed the very separation from ownership and responsibility becomes the distinguishing motive. By the way, while I am on the subject, permit me to add as well the opinion that real estate homeownership (as opposed to real estate investment attributable to the likes of Minto Construction) is an unqualified money pit and an undeniable deceit. I won’t prolong this monologue by engaging in the detail of that discussion except to observe once again that I know of what I speak. It is unfortunate that the youth of this generation have been usurped from adopting the erstwhile formality of home ownership which is now laughably beyond reach for so many; yet I see it as an advantage because it will of necessity estrange them from defeat by debt and inutility.

Lastly I feel obliged to acknowledge the technological assuagement of the compulsive spender. In an evolving era when already so much is done vicariously, “virtually” or on-line, I have unwittingly learned that I am able to exhaust whatever is the materialist sentiment of my visceral appetite merely by reviewing on the internet whatever it is that currently draws my mind. Naturally this thesis, as well as the primary resolution, is not intended to thwart all expenditure, merely that which is beyond immediate necessity and reason (both of which features must form part of the deductive process).

And finally – though money is a vulgar topic, it is not less indecent than a pyramid, a castle with a moat or a vast collection of goods and accessories reminiscent of a hardware store. In the end, nobody’s listening, nobody cares.  And the pharaohs are dead.