Assignment: Is conscience a more powerful motivator than money, fame, or power?
Written in 25 minutes. 550 words.
Goals that can be achieved by money fame, or power are finite, while the goals that can be attained by conscience are endless. Therefore, conscience is a more powerful motivator than money, fame, or power, as demonstrated by the story of Ed Turner and his son, ted.
When money, fame, or power is reached, it will be hard to come up with new goals. Ed Turner was the father of Ted Turner, one of the most influential men in America today. According to Ted’s biography, Call me Ted, Ed Turner set a goal in front of his parents in the Great Depression years that he would become a millionaire and own a yacht. When Ed handed the business over to Ted later on, Ed’s company was already worth 1 million dollars. Instead of feeling satisfied in his goal, Ed fell into depression because there was nothing more to achieve. One day, Ed shot himself in the bathtub. Ed told his son something his son would never forget: set goals so high that you can never possibly reach them. Therefore, you will always have something to strive for. When individuals motivated by money, fame, or power achieve their goals, there is nowhere else for them to go. Their success remains stagnant, and in the midst of coming up with new ideas for improvement, individuals end up struggling tremendously in life. They lose their sense of conscience, cannot make wise choices, and have nothing to motivate them any further. When Ed’s goal, fueled by desire for money, fame, and power, was achieved, sadness and tragedy ensued.
Contrarily, conscience motivates people immensely because there is no end to following an individual’s instincts. After Ted Turner learned from his father’s lessons, Ted went on to found CNN, a 24 hour global news network. Ted was motivated primarily by his conscience: to provide news for the world, and to give away his profits to those in need. Today, CNN has one of the highest net worths among all companies in the world, but Ted, at the age of 76, continues to run this company not to gain more money, but because he wants to provide news to more people and help more needy individuals. There is no end for the demand of news, nor is there an end to the needy individuals in the world, making both of these unattainable goals. Therefore, Ted always has something to strive for and motivate him. Ted has provided a 1 billion dollar gift to the United Nations, and is known for many of his other generous donations. When individuals rely on their own conscience to guide them, they are always striving for success because the goal they are aiming for is unachievable. When Ted chose his conscience to steer himself in life, he ended up not only creating one of the greatest companies in the world, but benefiting millions of people with the success he has achieved.
Ed Turner’s unfortunate story shows the futility of using money, fame, or power to motivate an individual because when such goals are achieved, individuals have no direction in life anymore. On the other hand, because Ted is always guided by his conscience, he constantly is striving for more and more in life, and the motivation provided by his conscience is endless.