Muse You Can Use
Two score and one (more or less
quarterly) issues ago, this magazine
was brought forth, as Lincoln
might have said, dedicated to the
proposition that fulfillment in life is
about more than money.
Twelve years later, our message is much
the same. We still encourage people to
act on their values, to explore what they
think about money and its role in their
lives—to ask, in essence, what is money
for
? And we still haven't had to retract the
observation (in Issue No. 1) that money
is the last frontier of the human mind,"harder to talk about than sex."
On the other hand, some things
have
changed. One is me, the new editor. I
hope to build on the success of my predecessor,
Pamela Gerloff.
It might be appropriate at this point
to launch into my grand editorial vision,
for which I happen to have ready 27
eight-by-ten, color, glossy pictures with
circles and arrows. But my sense is that
it would be better to go right to the
proof of any editorial plan—the issue
you hold in your hands.
Our cover story explores Henry David
Thoreau's legacy as a cultural pioneer on
the subject of money. Thoreau saw economic
arrangements as the practical
expression of a particular philosophical
view. It was his refusal to pay the state
money that he feared would be used to
extend slavery that landed him in jail, an
event which led to his essay, "Civil Disobedience."
Thoreau explored the cost
of our working, buying and spending as
expressed not in dollars and cents but in
vials of life energy. With Emerson and
other Concordians, Thoreau saw that
money matters always involve a degree
of moral and ethical sense.
My choice of our cover story entails
some organizational history. We
recently moved our office to Concord,
Massachusetts and became known as
the More Than Money Institute. While
our mailing address is new, Concord's
cultural and ethical legacy, as exemplified
by Thoreau and Emerson, is not.
Bob Kenny and I quickly realized that
Thoreau, Emerson and Concord's other
writers are among those thinkers and
social doers who have long provided
inspiration to More Than Money.
I'd like to pass along a value-added factoid
about Thoreau and money that you
won't find in our story. Thoreau did not
know commercial success as a writer and
had to support himself in other ways. He
was Spartan to a fault and is usually seen
as a financial failure. But he apparently
had a real touch in Concord real estate.
When Thoreau's house for the last 12
years of his life sold for $2 million, I
became curious about the alleged market
value today of Thoreau's many addresses
in Concord. All told, he lived in 9 places
in Concord, including a section of a
now-famous country inn, Emerson's
grand house, and addresses along Main
Street that today sport a major bank, a
fancy store and the town's public library.
I looked up as many of these properties
as I could find on the town's lists of
assessed values. My list was not complete,
but it suggested that the places
where Thoreau dwelled (outside of
Walden Pond) have a total market value
north of $5 million. Be it perverse or
funny, this irony reminds us that even
in Thoreau's hometown, much work
remains to be done to honor his plea for
a "new means of valuation."
Elsewhere in this issue, we have an
article on a member of the More
Than Money Institute who experienced
an almost unimaginable loss, the death
of a son, yet who found a way to convert
his grief into something positive, a
foundation that helps others. We also
have a snazzy "More Than MONEY
CenterFOLD," featuring, naturally,
money folded into boots, boats, birds,
that sort of thing. Odd, perhaps, but we
hope you find it interesting.
Albert Keith Whitaker ponders what
Aristotle has to say about the nature of
giving to foundation professionals. In
her article, psychologist Carol Kauffman
discusses ways to help identify and
develop one's "signature strengths." (I
will say up front that it has nothing to
do with signing checks.)
Our columns explore the power of
modest philanthropic gifts, and the
power as well of frank talk about money
dilemmas—in this case between
two men. Lastly, we reprint an essay by
a parent who was alarmed to find an
incriminating "Dear Santa" list that he
had penned as a boy. I am that parent,
and I wrote the essay years ago while on
the staff of
The Boston Globe
. Its message
about toy lust and moral judgment,
however, is on the money for this magazine
—especially at this time of year.
Now, about that grand vision.
Rather than referring to it as a journal,
calling this publication a magazine better
reflects the editorial direction in which I
wish to take it.
More Than Money Magazine
will look, and indeed will be, a little
different, yes. But the changes will
not be dramatic. There will be new
voices, new topics, and slight shifts in
editorial focus, but there's no thought of
wrecking a good thing.
One difference is that we will no longer
have themed issues. The single-theme
approach served this publication in the
past. Now it is time to turn to a new template.
It's my hope that every number of
the magazine will be a portal onto the
variety of issues and concerns that this
institute and its members have. There will
be a cover story to anchor each issue, but
features and columns may march in a different
(but I hope complimentary) direction.
A multi-theme approach will enable
readers, especially new ones, to quickly
get a feel for breadth of issues and ideas
we care about. Each issue will have a centerfold
about a subject related to our work
that is visual in nature.
I would like it to be evident that this
magazine is the periodical companion to
the More Than Money Institute. The
institute publishes these pages not only as
a gift to the world of ideas and moral
reflection but to further its purposes and
programs and to build support for its
mission. As editor, I want our articles to
be provocative and to start conversations.
My orientation as a professional journalist
is to connect the magazine's content
with events and issues in our society. But
we will also print articles and essays about
enduring themes and topics, of course.
We must recognize that, as Ezra Pound
said, truth is the "news that stays news."
Editing this magazine will be fun. It
may not be easy, given the force of our
society's uncritical assumptions about
money. I'm hopeful, however. Indeed I
believe, if I may borrow another phrase
from Lincoln, that this magazine and
the convictions for which it stands shall
not perish from the earth—at least for
another two score and one (more or less
quarterly) issues.
—Richard Higgins
A writer, editor, and former longtime
Boston
Globe
reporter, Richard Higgins has edited
three books and published numerous essays and
articles in national and scholarly publications.
He is a graduate of
Harvard Divinity
School and the father
of three children.
Editorial Policy
: The views expressed by contributors and quoted sources in More Than Money Magazine
are not necessarily those of the More Than Money Institute. We encourage and support
respectful dialogue among people of diverse viewpoints and we provide a range of perspectives on
different topics.
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