My creativity advent calendar 2024: Day 9.
Does someone who creates wealth count as a creative person?
I just finished the novel “Trust” by Hernan Diaz. It’s set in 1920's New York and it’s all about creating wealth. I’ve been thinking about all kinds of creativity for this series of essays but I just realised that creating wealth wasn’t on my list.
Do other creative people think that wealth creators are in the same category or are they different? Is producing money the same as producing art or music or food or fashion?
The book is really about relationships and the creation of wealth is the device used to illustrate very human frailties. I won’t spoil the story here but highly recommend it as an ingenious construction and beautifully written. The last part is magnificent. Here’s a really good review that explains more: https://www.bookpage.com/reviews/trust-book-review/
The characters in the book undoubtedly created massive amounts of wealth but I’m still wondering — do we really think of them as creatives? Have we perhaps demonised them because of how they create rather than what?
