“The only thing that money is meant for is spending. And that’s especially true when you spend it on partying.”
Wise words from New York City socialite and rock musician Andrew W.K., and the summation of an enjoyable read from the professional party, who right now appears to be blogging about finance for Marketplace online. Friday evening’s now the time of his first posting: a three-part editorial about “What partying taught Andrew W.K. about money.”
W.K.’s approach to the whole concept is simple: It’s not evil so long as you spend it in the right places on the things that you enjoy. Easy to say when somebody makes all his money from partying, but there’s a nice layman’s charm to his explanation.
On its prodigy:
“Money itself is neither good nor bad, it just depends on what you do with it.”
On Spending:
“Money has no value or ability to do good if it isn’t spent. It’s wise to save money for a rainy day or for a future house or whatever, but in a modern society we rely on each other spending money in order to spread the wealth around. If you’re concerned about the poor people, it can seem like a meaningful show of solidarity to be poor yourself — it can seem like we should live with less, because others have less themselves. But if poor people had more money, they almost certainly wouldn’t turn it away so they could continue being poor out of protest. And you being poor doesn’t help a poor person either.”
On its Value:
“Money spent on fun and feeling good is totally righteous. Money spent on getting wasted is never wasted money.”
Okay, so maybe Andrew W.K. should rethink that one for the blogging side gig.
The full assessment can be found at Marketplace.org through the Your Money vertical. Time for Andrew W.K. to go drum somewhere until he pukes.
Photo via Paula Ztunu/Flickr