First things first: Was modern anesthesia invented in 1917? Yes, it’s been around since 1846, actually. Good. Because I’m not sitting through having my wisdom teeth pulled out without narcosis, not even for $1.6 million a year, which is what $70,000 back then would be worth.
That is some serious money we’re talking about here. Enticing…
But what’s more important to me is: $70,000 in 1917, doing what?
Looking at the selection of available jobs for men back then, I’m not too excited:
- Blacksmith
- War general
- Butcher
- Farrier (someone who “shoes” horses)
- Factory worker
- Shoeshine boy
- Horse urine collector (there were ~3 million cars in the US in 1916, Ford was just picking up steam)
- Construction worker (with no safety ropes, I assume)
- Tunnel watchman (walking back and forth through one tunnel all day, making sure tracks are clean when a train comes)
- Canal digger
- Lighthouse keeper (yawn)
- Copper mine trammer (I weigh less than 140 lbs, how am I supposed to push a cart full of rocks?)
Given how few careers back then didn’t depend on manual labor, I’m having second thoughts here.
What if I want to be a writer? I’d have to write with pen and paper, of course. That’s alright. But how am I going to print all the papers and books? That’s going to cost me. Worse, if I write something that pisses off the wrong guy, I might be toast!
We’re in a World War at this time, mind you. Prince Ferdinand was assassinated just 3 years ago. Teddy Roosevelt took a bullet 2 years before that.
Unless I want to buy lots of useless stuff (which I don’t), $70,000 in 2017 gets me right where I need to be. The growth of extra happiness from $75,000 onwards is marginal anyways.
I can make that kind of money doing marketing for a big brand, helping a startup with content or working at a publishing house – and write on the side every day until I pop!
How you make your money is so much more important than how much you make.
The possibilities for the “how” are endless in a 2017 world, which is why I’ll take that over being the richest man in the steel factory any day of the week.
