Entry 35: Colonia Voyage, Introspection
10 May 2020Worldbuilder92
Current System: Trifid Sector EL-Y d24Colonia Voyage, Day 32
It's been a slow week of space travel; the star systems in this section of space are closer together, but there's more data-rich sources to explore and map. Heck, I've even stumbled on a few Earthlike worlds out here!
It seems the thing that's been on everyone's minds lately have been the news updates on personal carriers which will be shipping out soon. There's a whole bunch of discussion on what they can do, what we can do with them, but the main focus has been on the costs. Apparently, the cost for maintaining a carrier will require a weekly upkeep of some kind, and there's been a mountain of folks discussing whether they'll be rich enough or make enough money to afford keeping one.
But that got me thinking...what does it mean to be wealthy?
I mean, we as people normally equate wealth to having money, but really wealth in that sense is a social construct. The value of a credit, dollar, rupee, whatever currency you use is determined by banks, markets, and other economists in order to keep the economy fair and stable. Money helps us do things, like gathering resources or performing tasks, so it is necessary. But since value is inherently something determined by us, does that make money valuable? Is a rich person wealthy?
The modern word "wealth" is a combination of two words, both from the archaic English language: "welthe", which means "prosperity", and "health", which is "well-being". So archaically speaking, a wealthy person is... someone who is happy and healthy. So the question then changes to "does money make you happy?". I mean, sure we can buy things that make us happy, like a video game, a fancy dress, a new ship... but then money merely becomes a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.
When I set out on this journey to Colonia, I figured I would set myself up as a tradesman, ferrying cargo to and from stations to make money. And I could, I could definitely do that. However, exploring like I am here is making me question whether I should just keep going after I get a better ship out there. I mean, I like exploring new places and doing research like I am, so I'd say I'm happy. And despite my slow transformation into a giant walking marshmallow, I'd say I'm in good health. But I don't have a ton of money, like alot of "wealthy" people do; I doubt I could afford to maintain a personal carrier ship, even if I could afford to buy one.
But... do I need to buy one?
Ionno... just something I couldn't get off my mind, thought I'd spill my brain here. I'm currently charting a system with a bunch of bark mounds on moons of gas giants, might be here a while.