Everybody is motivated by something, and everybody has something they want.

To get what they want, people set goals. Some people aim to start their own business, others want to climb Mount Everest, but to do so, they need money.

When thinking about the future of the world, finding out what motivates the next generations is important. Ankeny High School (AHS) senior, Maxwell Wardell, has spent the last three years learning to weld and now has an apprenticeship at John Deere.

“I want a job that I enjoy, for me, that would be a welding job…I want a family, wife, and kids, a large house, and a comfortable life to give to my family, ” Wardell said.

Many people seemingly share Wardell’s thoughts, even AHS sociology teacher Patrick Asmussen.

What is Asmussen’s biggest want? “To be financially more than stable,” he says.

The fact is, everybody wants money, but I do not think a lot of people take time to think about what money actually represents. While money is essentially a power system, more than that, it is the physical manifestation of freedom.

The amount of money you have determines how free you get to be. With millions of dollars, you could buy luxury cars, big houses, expensive clothes, and all kinds of cool things. Unfortunately, most people do not get that luxury. Most people have to work every day for money, and never even come close to their financial dreams, but even with extreme wealth, I do not think it automatically brings the joy they wish for. Every day, people wish they could win the lottery, and why wouldn’t they?

“People who win the lottery have the highest rates of depression and suicide,” Asmusen said.

The reason being that because of the new wealth, the people around you won’t treat you the same. People will start focusing less on you, and more about your money.

While wealth can bring freedom, the freedom it brings is not perfect. The way it works limits how free even the rich can be. Even if it is not possible for a billionaire to spend all of their money, they are still limited to the amount of money they have, albeit it is a massive limit.

The problem is that money puts a limit on freedom, which itself is not a finite concept. In theory, freedom could be infinite if we knew how to make it happen. This all goes to show that while people can attain money, finding freedom through money is not always intuitive or possible, but it’s really our only option.

I believe the biggest boundary between us and freedom is ourselves. Every day, the world is constantly working against itself, stopping us from being free. More could be achieved if the world could work together towards a final cause, rather than having the social adversity we have today. 

Even though people have different beliefs and opinions, we still all want what is good for ourselves. I believe that the only way for everyone to have what is best for themselves is for the world to work together. We cannot avoid and ignore people we do not like if we want to solve the world’s problems. We do not get the luxury of living in a bubble until there is nothing to pop it.

“Inclusion has the ability to make things great. [With] exclusion, we are fighting against one another for our own desires and promotion,” Asmussen said. 

In other words, more people could be free if people were willing to work with one another, but when we decide only to work for ourselves, it hurts the overall well being of the world.

 While being self-centered is not good for others, I can’t say I blame the morally questionable uber-rich business owners for doing what they do. For example, child labor is very bad, but it is what some of them have to do. Why would they risk their own freedom to help the rest of the world, specifically people they don’t know? 

I don’t think it is unreasonable for somebody to say they want to live for themselves. Although I do not believe this is the ideal way to think, it is up to the individual to decide if they want to help others. 

“The end goal is that we want our safety, we want our security, even if it’s at the expense of others,” Asmussen said.

This goes to show that every person, society, and country cares more about protecting their own interests and values than they care about protecting the world. 

I sincerely hope that one day the world will be able to work together, whether or not we all like each other or each other’s views. I am unsure if it is possible or not, but I believe that it is the only way to bring the world to new heights. I honestly think we need aliens to attack us, or some kind of international threat to appear, which would require us to work together. 

If death would not be a big enough reason for us to work together, then maybe we are a lost cause. 

The way I see it, there are two futures that I can foresee happening. We will either all be blown into smithereens or we will all be free. Although some could argue that death is freedom, but that is a topic for another time.