Philosophical Perspectives

Priorities And Perspective When Choosing A Career

If somebody asked you with the most important aspect of your job was what would you say? I think if you’re walking down the street and you Asked 10 different people that question, I would bet money that the majority would say that salary was the most important.

This says a lot about our society and what’s important and what we value. There’s no denying that we all need money in order to survive, but we want more than to survive. We want security. We want to be… Lay down and exhale and feel at peace knowing that everything is secure. But does money really bring us that security.

When you think about it, what is money? It’s really just a concept, a means to an end. It seems that too many people in the society focus on the means rather than the end. I feel that when looking at a potential career salary is something that absolutely must be considered, but it is most definitely not the most important aspect of the job.

The question everybody should be asking for rather answering if they were part of my poll, would be is this something that I would look forward to waking up each morning and doing. Now of course, this is the ideal situation and at times many of us must do things in life that are not pleasant in order to survive. I have had many jobs sometimes multiple jobs that were absolutely miserable, that I needed to do it in order to make money at the time. But I’m talking about what is ideal, and what is ideal something we should all be striving for regardless of the present situation.


I’ve seen plenty of people who make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and are absolutely miserable they hate their jobs, their personal lives are in shambles, and their relationships are falling apart. They are usually surrounded by expensive material items, but lack of simplicity and warmth that you find in some of the poorest households.

I’m not at all saying that money is bad or that having material objects is a negative thing. What I’m really talking about his perspective. Keeping the perspective on what is important in this life is of extreme importance. Knowing what we need and what we want and understanding the difference between the two, is the real key to happiness.

Economic Cycles and the Job Market

We have all heard stories about the great depression and how no one had anything.   People waited on long lines at soup kitchens to get a meal.  Some would literally walk for 200 miles to distant cities because they heard there may be a prospect for a job.  This was a common occurrence during this time.

However, just
one decade before, the country saw a massive expansion of wealth and prosperity.  Along with this economic expansion came numerous jobs.  People were in good spirits and things were good.  These were what has been historically referred to as the roaring twenties.  This small snapshot of time gives a glimpse of the economic cycle which has been repeated numerous times in the national economy and now is happening on a global scale.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that the great depression eventually ended and once again gave rise to an era of great economic expansion and of great prosperity.  Also with each new up swing in this economic cycle, the amount of property and wealth created as well as the standard of living increased from the generation prior. 

However during the last 20-30 years, wage growth has slowed and along with inflation has taken its toll on working a nd middle class families.  For the first time in the history of this country, the future generations will have less then there parents.  There are many issues and perspectives that can be examined in connection with the cycles of the economy,  but it just seems as though things are different this time. 

What saved this country after the great depression has been argued by many.  Some say it was the social programs that were instituted others have other ideas.  Looking at the condition of the infrastructure of this country I'm glad they did what they did in building highways and bridges.  I doubt we would even have what we have today had such a program not been created.  However, I don't believe that had much to do with the economic recovery. 

World War 2 played a critical from in putting this country back to work in the creation of the war machine.  But more importantly was the fact the the rest of the worlds manufacturing capabilities had been destroyed leaving the United States as the only mass global supplier.  This is how this country became a super power.  The question is,  what will it take this time to turn this economy around?

For anyone looking for a great resource on careers check out careertrove.org