Editor’s Note: This essay contrasts the values of a million dollars and knighthood, emphasizing the freedom and opportunities that financial security can provide. With a million dollars, I would have the means to pursue entrepreneurial ventures that create jobs and contribute positively to society. While knighthood is a prestigious honor reflecting societal appreciation, it is an end goal that can be achieved through impactful actions funded by financial resources. The choice of a million dollars represents the freedom to define my life’s journey and make significant contributions, potentially leading to knighthood as a byproduct of my efforts.
The Journey and the Destination: Million Dollars vs. Knighthood
There are journeys and there are destinations. On any journey, a million dollars is luggage worth carrying. It represents a million opportunities, and my choice would be to seize the opportunity that will lead me to a position where I can help thousands of people. I would use this money in enterprises that provide work for the talented, allowing the product of their genius to change the world for the better.
Knighthood, on the other hand, is a destination—an honor bestowed by an appreciative society at the end of a journey. It recognizes that the honoree has taken on board the needs of society and led it to a better condition. What I would do with a million dollars could potentially lead me to a knighthood, and such an honor is worth much more than a million dollars, but only if earned.
Among the reasons for my preference for the million dollars, the prime one is this: it represents freedom from doing things at others’ say-so merely to make a living. With this financial cushion, I would not merely look beyond the confining circle of my needs, but reach beyond it and set my own agenda for my life.
To err is human, and this sum would provide a substantial safety net if I were to fall in pursuit of my agenda of doing constructive work for my fellow beings. In short, the reins of my life are worth the million dollars. I choose the means to define the destination of my life’s journey and the freedom to reset that destination as I go along.
A million dollars is the means; knighthood is merely a destination. One who has a million dollars can take or leave knighthood as one might wish. Therefore, for me, the choice is clear: I would choose the million dollars.
