Money – something to rule the world?

Date: 21.02.2024
Position: Marina Hemingway, Cuba
Etmal: 0 nm
Total: 7382 nm
Ship: Regina Maris

Money, money, money, must be funny in a rich man’s world. Is it? But what about the poor men?

Do you still own your money?
I’m afraid it’s the other way around…
If I’m right that’s not funny
Then the jingle of coins is your favourite sound.

Doesn’t matter how much you have
You always would like to have more
Doesn’t matter how hard you work
There is always someone who earns more

And you’re always afraid to be poor
With poor I do not mean it’s hard to survive
It’s just not enough money for you

There are always people who are richer
And that is what bothers you too.
So tell me now how do you feel?
I’m really afraid it is true
Do you feel like I have described?
Then your money owns you.

The history of paper having a value

When we go back in earlier times, nobody needed to own some strange papers to survive. There was just one man who had some animals and another man who owned a bakery and if the farmer needed some bread he offered milk or maybe also meat to the baker and got some bread instead.

It was possible to get everything you needed in exchange for something you had. Time went by and the world began to change. Different countries started trading with each other. And of course it was not possible for a man from India to come to Europe just to get a few potatoes for his family in exchange for some spices.

The distance between the countries was way to long just for personal trades. To solve this problem, human founded a new system: Money. Giving something of a value to trade with instead of direct trades. So, obviously money made trading a lot easier, but at the same point it devided the world in two.

The situation now

For us money is something we are not used to talk about a lot. At home in Germany for example, most people are buying their food without thinking about the price they pay. Since we are in Cuba, we are talking about this topic quite a lot. Here, the people are very poor and also their currency is not strong.

Because of that it was possible for us to pay also with euros or dollars – which are more stable currencies – today. They took whatever we offered, almost everywhere, even in a shop and in the bus.

Also, we tried to hitchhike back to our harbour and it was quite easy. The reason: The people here want to get money whenever it is possible because they don’t have a lot. We waited just a few minutes and two cars stopped and both would have taken us with them.

The first driver wanted 20 dollar per person, which was to much for us, so we decided to wait longer. Only some seconds later the next car already came. We asked if it is possible to get to our harbour for one dollar per person and in the end we payed two per person. So, the driver got double the price as we offered in the beginning but for us it still was way less than we would have payed for that distance in Germany.

This was one of the experiences today which showed us the huge difference between what we are used to and how the financial situation for people in other places in the world can be.

About today

It was a day filled with new experiences for everyone. We had the whole day to explore Havana on our own in groups of three. A chance to see a lot of old cars and have a look behind the scenes of Cuba, a land which is way different to our home countries.

P.S.: 18:18 💞 Aurelia: Meine liebe mimi Maus, alles Gute zum Geburtstag 🎉❤️