Why do we all chase money?

Why does everyone want to get rich? Ask the rich if they are happy when they buy things. They aren't, not for long. Ask them what they want, and they will answer, "Freedom." Now, I don't have money; I don't even have a car. But I do have freedom, for I ride a scooter.

When I was 15, I thought a car would give me freedom. When I was 30, I sat in US traffic, a rat in a rolling cage, worrying about car insurance payments and gas prices and getting through the morning traffic jam to work on time. That's yet another reason I love Beijing: you really don't need a car, unless showing people you can afford a car is essential to your self-worth. And if you ride a scooter, you'll never go back to four wheels.

I see the poor pedestrians running out of the way of cars, people on buses and on bicycles staring at car-drivers with masked envy. But they're staring at the idea of not having a car, while someone else does. If they'd really look at the drivers, gazing in boredom, picking their noses, stressing out from being stuck at yet another red light, they'd realize the truth. The car is a prison as much as a carriage.