Becoming Both Successful and Valuable

I GOT ABOARD the Rolling Stones bandwagon of admirers late, 1978. I was twenty three, and I nearly simultaneously lost my virginity with the Stones, marijuana, and women. somehow, that seems fitting, albeit a bit belated. Better late than never, some bloke said. Prior to that, it had been Neil Diamond, beer and tea, and a vivid imagination. Ever since, all of the above. Inclusiveness, the only way to go, eh mate? If you can muddle through without becoming nauseated, disgusted, drunk, or stoned, or passionately jealous, you are cordially invited to imbibe the biography "Mick", by Christopher Anderson. Even better is the first chapter in the massive autobiographical tome "Life", by Keith Richards. It is utterly astonishing that these two are still alive, and they might agree. Keith may have been aided and abetted by a quick trip to Switzerland back in the seventies for a full body blood transfusion. Whomever he traded blood with might still be feelin' mighty good. How much benefit have the Rolling Stones been to humanity? How much benefit are entertainers to humanity? In America, those who entertain us sufficiently are our modern gods. We erect statues to them, we hovel at their feet. we shower them with adulation and money. There is, it almost seems, an innate urge within humans to achieve fame, power, and wealth. It could be said that even those who have none of it are addicted to all of it, maybe because the enhancement of social status is associated with safety within the group, adulation from others is our guarantee of being at the front of the food line. We all, most of us, sanctimoniously claim that money is not our primary purpose. Most of us are liars. If the Rolling Stones are worth millions of dollars, school teachers are priceless, and maybe that's why we underpay them. Mick Jagger became a sex addict, and Keith Richards became a heroin addict. Somehow, they both survived, and maybe it was worth it to them. Try not to become a man of success, said Einstein, but rather, a man of value. The very minute the Rolling Stones did their first charitable work, they became both, but not a minute before.