What is wealth?

I once heard Jörg Guido Hülsmann say that there is no nice, clear definition of what an economic good is. I do sort of agree with that. What is a good? Something that provides some benefit? Dictionary.com says:

a commodity or service that can be utilized to satisfy human wants and that has exchange value.

OK, so it satisfies human wants and as a result it has some value in exchange. I want to explore a broader definition: wealth. Normally we think of people who earn a lot of money as wealthy. They often buy expensive houses and cars, perhaps a nice yacht or Gulfstream jet.

Pictured above: wealth?

I think we can be a little more creative than that. Here's my definition of wealth:

Wealth is any factor that gives ease.

Short, I know, but it has some pretty important implications. First of all, there are two types of wealth: that which can be bought and that which cannot, in other words economic goods and other things that don't have a price but nevertheless give some satisfaction.

Examples of economic wealth might be a house, or manufacturing plants. Examples of non economic wealth are when things start to get interesting. Your spouse is part of your wealth. So are you children and your parents, your friends and so on. They all (hopefully) make your life better in some way, so they are included in wealth, but you can't buy love. Love you give also makes you wealthy since it increases your contentment with life and the joy you have with your friends or family. If you value these things more than all economic goods, then you are by definition more wealthy than the chairman of a bank (provided that he cares less for his family or friends). Most people would not trade their families for even extraordinary economic wealth, which proves that they value them more.

Now I want to highlight one of the most important aspects of Christianity. Anyone who has God is so wealthy that no friend, family, money or any other thing can significantly improve his wealth. That is not to say that those things have no value, but compared to God, they have insignificant value. That is one of the reasons that Jesus says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple." He doesn't actually mean that we should hate those people, or our own life. What He does mean is that the value we place on following Him must always be greater than on any other thing - relationships, even life itself. Because to have Him is the greatest good of all and nothing else can compare. He's just asking us to recognise that fact and act on it.