An Interview with Charles Terry

Charles Terry's work with the Doors is admirable in that he was trying his best to help those who are much less fortunate than he is. It was interesting to hear him say that money could have ultimately changed him and his organization and that he was happy that they were always living on the edge. It made the mission seem much more organic, but he was still surprised that it was so difficult to raise money in such a wealthy state as New York is. When he started working for the Rockefeller Center, Charles started to feel the disconnect that comes with accruing wealth. As a man who deeply cared about helping it is refreshing to see him notice the changes around him. The interview also goes on to talk about his opinions on Philanthropy. Charles believes that its a lot more than just giving money, and he's right. If you're someone who is dedicated to helping others you are definitely putting others above your own well-being. He puts it as "giving your time and skills, and other non-monetary resources."

Genius Money Pt. 2 Chapter 5

Chapter 5 was a little bit difficult to understand.  The title of the chapter is an oxymoron: "real virtuality."  The author uses QQ coins as an example which are like bitcoins, which are an online virtual currency.  If you have played computer games or video games, they will give you options to purchase merchandise in order to help you beat the game.  This goes hand in hand with mercantilism but unlike in real life, the author describes it as "free market mercantilism at its best."  But if you think about the QQ situation is a bit complicated.  Essentially you are trading real money for fake online currency.  The value of currency in real life comes from the government setting a value for the currency and its trade value.  But with QQ coins, the user is essentially free from government control.  I thought it was a pretty interesting read because it reminded of bitcoins.  

John Bloom starts the chapter off by explaining to the reader that we normally associate things with what we are already familiar with. For example, in normal language we substitute the use of credit cards by saying we are using money which isn't true. The world doesn't really revolve the way we think it to revolve. Bloom then goes on to explain what QQ coins are, virtual coins for users in their messaging system. The QQ coin became relevant once other game sites began to accept the coins as well. The problem with the virtual currency was that it was difficult to regulate and people began to use it as regular money that couldn't be traced and could avoid being taxed. QQ coins served as a bridge between what is real and what is not. People used the coins in order to gain real money, but at the same time the coins were merely an "afterimage" of what real money is. Regardless of the fact that it is just a virtual currency, the coins needed to be taken care of by the Chinese government in order to protect their real currency. It is important to note that if virtual currencies are left unchecked it could lead to chaos and devaluation of real currencies.

Genius of Money Chapter 6 and 14

The chapter starts off by depicting a portrait by famous painter Quentin Metsys called "The Money Lender and His Wife." It is a painting of two people doing ordinary tasks, but Metsys threw in a lot of symbolism into the painting, mostly Christian symbolism. The painting seems very simple but Metsys' there is a lot of complexity within the painting. For example, there is an oval mirror near the bottom of the painting, and when you look closely, you can a reflection of a detailing window. The significance of this small part is that it is a way for the painter to insert himself into the painting and at the same time the window also references the crucifix.

The overall message the painting has is that people have gone away from religion and more towards trading and making money, mercantilism. Metsys most likely made the painting in order to get people to stray away from material devotion and move back towards spiritual devotion. He wants to show that people were very eager to make money and that money would bring happiness but overall is breeds corruption. Metsys goal is just to have people realize what should be most important in their life and that is Christianity.

In Chapter 14 "The Touchstone and the Labyrinth", John Bloom goes on to talk about how he recognizes money as a way of expression, social technology, and a way to combine value with material goods. Money is more than just an object at this point, it is a part of people. He talks about how money is a physical object that represents something entirely abstract, value. This leads into his discussion about the labyrinth and the touchstone. Both are symbols and metaphors of money - physical and experiential.

The Labyrinth represents the journey that man goes on throughout his life and also represents the journey of money - transactions. Bloom continues by saying that money has a horizontal, transactions between people, and vertical meaning, value derived by the money, He also relates spiritual with physical again here by talking about the journey through the Labyrinth. Lastly, what I found interesting was that he mentions that since we left the gold standard money has become "a fiction declared as fact." Money exists because the government decreed it and the value is always changing so its very hard to measure.

Chung King Road

When I showed up at Chung King Road I really wasn't sure what to expect. But as I got closer to the art galleries I could hear that there were a lot of people here. I half expected the place to be a little dead and have to awkwardly walk around and look at art, but there were so many strange people and so many different galleries to check out! 

Chung King Road

The first thing I noticed while there was a singer. She was singing much like Lana Del Rey and slurring her words together almost to the point where I couldn't understand what she was saying, but there was a very rhythmic and almost hypnotic vibe coming from the music and the way she was singing. She was singing to a video that kept repeating over and over and the meaning behind it all completely went over my head, so I didn't end up sticking around too long.

Singer's video

I decided to be a little bolder and actually went into an exhibit that didn't have very many people. I was standing there looking at one particular painting for quite a long time trying to discern its meaning. The painting was off a man getting a haircut. Only this man looked to be getting his brain cut and he was reading an interesting magazine while getting said "braincut." A few things I was able to catch were phrases like "depend on your TV." To me I understood this peace as a sort of commentary on the fact that we are being brainwashed by all the things around us like television. Being conditioned to think it certain ways which was why the man was getting his brain cut up instead of his hair. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a photo of the painting, but here is a photo of some little guys made out of masking tape and toothpaste!