“Time is money.” – Benjamin Franklin
Ever heard of the fog of war? It’s a often-used military term for the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by those participating in military operations. The phrase “fog of war” essentially tries to capture the cloud in judgment that can occur during a conflict, military campaign.
There is uncertainty in your rationale, your estimations of your enemy’s capabilities and intent – as well as your own. As one might gather, this is a bad thing, as your judgment, logic and rationale should be clear during such trying times and circumstances. Military’s all over the world have discussed, practiced and prepared for the fog of war for centuries – but it doesn’t stop it from occurring.
The same could be true of American society right now regarding the economy, government and our culture. We’re in a haze socially, too.
This is referred to as “The Fog of Money”.
Because whenever money is involved, we lose all sense of rationale thought, logic goes out the window and our judgment is certainly clouded. What’s worse is own enemies know this and use it to their advantage.
The difficult part, though, is determining who are enemies are. They are not just groups without country in foreign lands, rather, the majority exist within our own borders, inhabiting the same space and occupying the same soil as we do. They could be our own government – both as an institution and as individuals in the institution. They could be the very people who employ us. Our enemies could be family and friends.
If you find this far-fetched and think that this is just another spiel about money being the root of all evil, well, you’d be both right and wrong.
It’s widely known that money certainly drives nearly everything and brings its own aspirations and motivations into any and all situations. It clouds judgment just by entering the room.
This is why they are making more Star Wars movies. Its why your favorite 1970s band continues to tour. It is why you get up and go to your job each day. The fog of money can be found all around us – the desire to get it, to keep it, to use it, to give it away.
There never seems to be enough of it, even though it really exists within the context of our own minds. Technically, it’s just paper that we’ve universally agreed holds some sort of value. As my high school history teacher said, if we all agreed today to burn all money and start using rocks as currency, it wouldn’t create a new system – just a new currency.
The Fog of Money creates an illusion of power, which is something else that’s in and of itself, a fog. Power exists because it is universally acknowledged that someone has it over you.
This week, Politico ran a storyabout how interest groups and the people seeking an audience with President Obama are using advertising time (and money) on ESPN, because they know he watches sports (hope they are keenly aware of this relatively new technology called DVR, which allows you to skip through commercials).
Trade associations and companies are using the media to try and garner Obama’s attention. One strategist indicted that the ads cannot be obvious to the president – he can’t know he’s the intended audience.
Money to deceive the powerful of influence? Who really has the power in this situation? Is it the one running the ad, the president – or the medium itself? Who can tell in this fog?
And it is not just political – Microsoft and the American Petroleum Institute (the largest oil and gas industry trade group) have used the same tactic to try and gain favorable audiences with those who watch ESPN and other networks.
It could be said that all this money would be better spent trying to improve services, trying to better the world through advancing technology and communications. But a message like that cuts through the fog and drips with a sappy message of the advancement of civilization in general. Kind of the opposite point of capitalism, come to think of it.
Thus our contradiction: a country with cultural principles of equality, of kindness, of opportunity, compassion and freedom, but with fundamental economic principles of supply and demand. We’re constantly at war with our two selves: the part of us that wants to do good in and for the world, and the part of us that knows money makes that very world go round.
Case in point: a New York realtor is offering employees a 15 percent raise to those who get a tattoo of the company logo. It appeals to those who are struggling in tough economic times and it’s a walking billboard (and weird story) for all who see and ask about it. It relies on desperation of the powerless, the need to gain any extra piece of cheese or slice of the pie or whatever classic acronym you can apply here.
Is it so different that millionaire and billionaire professional sports owners contemplating adding logos of key advertisers to team uniforms? The money generated from TV deals, season ticket holders, corporate suites, general attendance and merchandising isn’t enough, eh?
To make matters worse, we the people are just as a part of the Fog of Money as those we seem to perceive as running the show – myself included. Every time we “like” some movie or business or show our support for or against some issue, we’re showing that these advertising efforts work.
I’d never suggest removing ourselves from the equation – we’re too entrenched into the modernity of American society now. But we could learn from the likes of those who’ve prepared, as best they can, for the Fog of War.
We can take the time to understand others true motivations and intent. We can learn to draw from our past experiences, do better reconnaissance work and recognize faulty communication. We can slow the tempo of our decision making to a tactical level where there is less risk and better intelligence.
Basically, we can take the time to be aware that the Fog of Money exists.
After all, time is money, and while money buys time, it cannot stop it.
In the end, we’ll be judged on how we spent our time, not the money.
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