h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What would I do if I had lots of money?

If I had enough money the very first thing I would do, would be to buy a patch of land ... about 10 hectares ... and establish a botanic garden! Where I will grow and display as many species from South Africa, first of all, and second, from the rest of Africa and Madagascar. The garden would be for conservation and also for education.

If I had *even more* money I would also start similar botanic gardens elsewhere in Africa, and then, next, in Southeast Asia, and then in South America. And a few on assorted islands like Madagascar, New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Cuba, Hispaniola etc. That's of course if I have a *heck* of a lot of money!

If I was stinking rich I would buy up land for nature reserves wherever there is a 'hot spot' of biodiversity, or wherever there are endangered species. I would pump money into nature conservation efforts and use my free time to write guiding principles for nature conservation; I woud write a lot and publish at my own expense, trying to raise environmental awareness, ecological awareness, biodiversity awareness, try to get it into people's heads that the wellbeing of humanity is inextricably connected with the wellbeing of the other species on the planet.

I would also try and use my money to benefit *people*. If I was filthy rich I'd not just hand money out to poor people. I'd try and help erect new institutions that could help eliminate poverty from this planet. I am utterly convinced that poverty is unnecessary. I believe utterly that a way can be found for humanity to not overburden the planet and to share and use resources so that everyone can get 'enough'. If I was that rich, I would invest much money into projects trying to find better ways of living for everybody on this planet ...

I would try and raise awareness about the importance of *responsibility*. That we are, all, responsible for ourselves, for each other, for the planet and everything on it. For future generations as well. Perhaps I might start a foundation for promoting the idea of responsibility.

At any rate, no matter how rich I am, I would always continue working. Also I never would want to get rich by unethical means. But if I earn lots of money, I would try and use all of it for the benefit of others. Humans and non-humans. I would try and maintain a simple and humble lifestyle ... my own lifestyle right now is perfectly sufficient for me, I really think I have pretty much everything I need for my own sake. But more money would allow me to do certain aspects of my work better. I would rack my brains trying to think of the most effective use of my funds. What would benefit people and the planet the most? We live in a time where money is power. In fact money is the *ultimate* power in our modern world. Hence, since as Spiderman's Uncle says, 'with great power comes great responsibility' ... with great wealth comes great responsibility. The misuse of money equals the abuse of power.

I wish you were a multimillionaire, so you could do all those wonderful things.

Hi JEllen! Thanks for your response! How are things going with you these days? At any rate ... I don't think I'm ever going to be a multimillionaire ... but I am going to *attempt* to do many of those things anyways, with my limited means!

Hey there, things are going well! I've been painting tonight, working on a colorful abstract for my sister. It's very large. And almost finished. Yay!

Did you see my journal entry about hypnosis cds? I've been getting very into self hypnosis, and I like it a lot.

I've been following the American Presidental race closely -- it's an interesting year. I hope Obama wins.

Yes Jellen, I'm following your hypnosis CD thread with great interest!

I also hope Obama wins ... I just hope he doesn't sell out to 'money and power' interests!

All the best with your own art!

If you're interested, here's some of my own art, including some recent stuff you may not have seen yet:

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/566714222fGvBQi

Beautiful stuff! Very nice work. I especially like the Owl. And the Dragon!

Thanks JEllen!

... Then again ...

I have all these high and mighty ideals of what I'd like to do when I have lots of money. But maybe ... if I had lots of money ... I'd turn out to be quite selfish about it! Money has corrupted many people. So why won't it corrupt me as well?

But honestly ... do I really need a huge house or a flashy car? I've just never really thought in those terms. I can't really think of any 'expensive thing' or status symbol sort of object I would feel I needed.

But certainly a patch of land for a garden is something my heart absolutely aches for.

I really am, deep down, a person who loves beauty and also loves *sharing* it! So when I have a garden, it must be a garden that other people can enjoy as well. A botanic garden open to the public! I would not want to make lots of money from visitors. I really would try and ask only a small access fee to help me keep the place running. If I had another source of income ... say, if I had managed to write a bestseller and got enough money from that ... I might even make access to the place free!

Maybe I will one day write that best-seller ... or just a book that sells *well*. And have a fair income from it so I won't have money *worries* any more.

Maybe I never write a best-seller but maybe I can make a career out of writing, and write a new book every year or two. That, too, could help me out of financial worries.

Or maybe I can really become a famous painter and sell works for fairly steep prices. It's all about having a 'name'. I'm still young ... there's still time for getting known to folks.

I'm going to work towards having the garden anyways. I'm also going to work towards other projects that can benefit humans and also non-humans. Maybe I don't need lots of money to do this stuff! In fact it might be good if I can prove that a person can accomplish much without having lots of money!