'Show me the MONEY!' by Kyriakos

To whom it may concern:

I write this article in order to share with the readers my thoughts and feelings. It all started when a random thought, sparked by some recent incidents, jumped in my head. 'How would ESA be as a profitable organisation?...' II could write endlessly about this matter but I will keep it as short as possible (I hope that I do not miss some important point). To begin with, I will theorize and then I will conclude with some rhetorical questions so, please, don't hesitate, just follow me...

My dad worked as a cashier for almost all his life. As a kid I was astonished by the way he was handling huge (believe me... huge!) amounts of money and checks all the time. I couldn't but be astonished by the way he managed to control his lust for money and of course ponder about the way I would have reacted in his place. Would I be so calm and tranquil as my dad or would I be a lesser man, falling into greed's trap of slipping some money into my pockets. It was a great lesson for me and I was always proud of him and the way he managed this issue. I always believed that contact with money can 'break' someone. Anyway it was back then that I started to philosophize about money and its connection to 'innocent purity' (I created this term by combining purity and innocence).

Materialism versus 'Innocent Purity'

Many people accuse money of taking away the 'innocent purity' of the human soul. Caring a lot for money makes us think that everybody thinks the same way we do. This form of materialism, conditions the absolute lack of empathy. To explain, empathy means the quality of seeing things from the prospective of the other person, that is, not being egocentric. In addition, I believe that being a materialist (materialism) means also being incapable of seeing or identifying non-materialistic values.

Voluntarism is a 'ghost' for all materialists; I mean how could they understand the benefits of doing something without expecting a material reward (i.e. money). Indeed, giving something without asking for a reward doesn't mean that we would actually reject it and of course it doesn't mean that we don't anticipate another form of reward like emotional (happiness!) or even experience to be mentioned on our CV! etc.

ESA is a voluntary association and since its 'birth' it functions in relation to a whole lot of things but not for profit and money. Frequently the members of ESA get some material rewards like free entrance to club or a dinner once in a while but never money. Not because we do not like money... but because we like some other virtues more. We believe in something beyond the money. Call us romantics or however you like but that's the one and only truth. People inside this 'idea' are people who are not in desperate need of money.

To conclude, I will go back to my initial thought... I try to imagine how things would be if ESA was a profitable organisation and It is something that f- scares me. If I was to get paid for my services would I be able to function the way I do now? Would my motivation, creativity and positive energy just fly away? What about the 'innocent purity' that for me is the essence of what we do? Would it all remain the same?