The Magic Word: "Profit"

Prof·it  [prof-it]

noun

1. the ratio of such pecuniary gain to the amount of capital invested.

2. advantage; benefit; gain.

When I was a little kid and wanted something bad they always said: “Say the magic word”. Back at the time, the magic word referred to “Please”. Nowadays, it seems that politeness is dead or at least about to extinct. As long as you bring the “Profit” in to the equation, you do not have to be polite… Did Profit become to be the new Please?

Have you ever thought how close does Profit sound to Prophet? It is probably a pure coincidence, but very ironic one. In the past prophet was a person chosen to speak for God and to guide the people (e.g. Moses guiding people from Israel). In the modern world, on the other hand, the word prophet more refers to person regarded as, or claiming to be, an inspired teacher or leader. Which makes me think: are we in the age when we exchange our prophets for our profit, in other word, learning for money? Is profit nowadays prophet?

Let us look at it from a little different point of view. In 1490’s Christopher Columbus is asking royal Spain family to support his trip to the undiscovered west. Columbus desires to learn and furthermore prove that the Earth is round.  If it would not be for his curiosity, America would probably not be discovered until much later and it would most likely completely change the American history. You might not be even here…

What is the moral of the story then?

We need to learn, respect, and help others even in the situations when there is no profit coming out of it. If we stay individualistic and ignorant (as we are now) we will not be able to move forward, and the whole society will deteriorate into shit.

Definitions from: http://dictionary.reference.com/