From Aleks to Lokus and Seneca

Greetings

Hmm, our guru Seneca was extremely concise with wealth and the corresponding statement. I quite like it. In my assumption, the truth ( a working law of the universe) shouldn't be verbose and overcomplicated. This simplicity is honey for my ears. A simple guy needs a simple code. Also, I have been astonished by a fact that Lokus was jealous due to income inequality. Since the first moment of our acquaintance I've seen an individual not paying attention to money and expenses. So, I suppose Lokus was concerned about inequity or unfairness, but not money. To be honest, I genuinely like this virtue in other people and in Lokus particularly.

Accordingly to Seneca's concept, I have been "enough rich" throughout my adult life. However, many of my friends consider me like an incarnation of Scrooge McDuck. So, maybe they are right to some extent because I limit myself with many unimportant things. Nevertheless, almost always I don't allow myself to spend money under my own decisions or choices but not external causes and needs. Thus, I consider myself as a person actually being an antient stoic (when it comes to wealth only).

On the other hand, Seneca's statement blames the ambitious individuals for their mental poverty, but I disagree here with the great philosopher. I think we should distinguish when someone is addicted for increasing wealth because of a feeling of shortage and when an ambitious person implementing self desires and continually developing in his/her area of interest. Our civilization wouldn't be possible without these "developers". This kind of activity is just the sense of their life. So, in my humble opinion, even such "businessman" may live accordingly to stoic rules.

Here I see a good moment to refer to Fernando Pessoa's statement, "Wealth is freedom." I see it as two sides of a coin. Development of wealth may be a trap, consuming all your time (freedom). However, "no cheerful" poverty terminates your time and opportunities much more effectively. Additionally, I've heard the scientific lecture about the significant impact of poverty on people's cognitive abilities.

Let me illustrate "cheerful" poverty by example with my friend. He is 57 y.o. lonely man, living in an apartment full of trash, thrown staff and cockroaches. He has not been working for many years. His refrigerator is full of rotten food taken out of bins. When I visited him and spent one night in this apartment, it was a huge challenge for my tolerance of such kind of life and sorrow for all these changes in my close friend. However, his attitude and perception is absolutely opposite. His life is easy. He doesn't have to work and has a lot of free time for hobbies and a dog. I would say he only suffers from loneliness. Frankly speaking, I am not able to judge if his poverty is cheerful or not.

The last remark from me is left (especially for dear Lokus). "Platonic envy" possesses currently my mind. As Lokus and I are both from similar Slavic cultures, we have "white envy" and "black envy" if we translate our expressions literally. When your envy is black, you hate someone because he/she has something enviable. When your jealousy is white, you blame yourself for not having the same, but you don't blame the person you envy. So now, I want to express my gratitude to Pessoa and Lokus, who've gifted me with this new wonderful term "platonic envy". I am free to choose the most attractive interpretation of it: you look at someone having something desirable for you and feel nothing but brotherly love.

Farewell.