In this essay I will examine the meaning behind Jacob Needleman's statement "There is this idea: 'Do what you love and the money will follow'. I think that this is one of the New age Fantasies". First explaining this quotation, I will then look at some of the questions that this statement raises, using similar views from an anthropology background and scholars such as Karl Marx to investigate the authors ideas of self knowledge and the role of money in western culture that are in the related article.

Through this article the author is trying to express the inherent fallacies that are present in such a statement as "Do what you love and the money will follow". This statement originally quoted by Marsha Sinetar, in her 1989 book Discovering Your Right Livelihood. Needlemam counteracts this with his theory on the role that money has and contributes in western culture, he shows that money is the driving force behind everything, and that such a statement is nothing more than just a fantasy and not realistic, money comes before all else. He contends that everything that man does or accomplishes is, or for, the

Karl Marx, the great social commentator, once said of the economic realities, "The first form of the family, was based on economic conditions, on the victory of private property over primitive, natural communal property"2. Again, what Marx is saying, is that even in the beginning of human society there was a decidedly strong trend towards private ownership, which translates into money. Through this statement,

In addition to Neeldeman's theory if you look at a similar hypothesis taken by anthropologist Meridith Small which serves to better illustrate the point of money being the decided factor in all of society through human evolution. Dr. Small uses the example of mating and sexual attraction in Homo Sapiens as a guide; she contends that sexual attraction within the Homo Sapiens subset is greatly influenced by wealth, which translates into the ability to care for offspring. She states, " She wants a man who will provide for her children, she needs his money, his resources and his protection to care for the children she will raise"1. This illustrates part of Needleman's point, on the nature of money and wealth. If you look at this quote you could easi

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Approximate Word count = 782
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)