the world machine

some observations in search of a thesis

If there is one principle on which every American agrees, it is: take the money. To suggest that somebody not take the money is like demanding veganism or celibacy from total strangers. Money is its own justification and unquestionable. Take the money, play ball with whoever you need to play ball with in order to get what you want, and so on. Of course there is a flip side to this—as there usually is—which is that once you take the money everybody gets to judge you. But these judgments still contain at heart a basic assumption that it’s right to take the money and it’s wrong to leave money on the table—not just wrong in a practical sense but even wrong morally.

If you think I am implicitly distinguishing myself from the great herd in the above paragraph, I’m not. There are almost no circumstances under which I wouldn’t tell a friend to take the money or the job (there are a few). The reason is simple: money is real. If you don’t take the money you are usually accomplishing nothing. If …