Is money the root of all evil? I have heard countless people make the claim that it is the root of everything wrong with this society.
It's funny when you talk about money. So many people have such a negative perception of it. But what makes it ironic, is that the people who say that money is evil are usually the ones who don't have much of it or don't understand the concept of money.
I bought into the idea just like everybody else that money is this bad thing which causes corruption in our society. I thought that the rich screwed over the poor, and this is why so many of us struggled financially. But this could not be further from the truth.
I think we could all agree that money is literally just pieces of paper. I'm going to go on a limb here and also say that it's people who give money value.
Money is nothing but energy. Period. You can use it for good; like feeding starving children, or you can use it for bad; like investing in war.
source: Tonedeaf Arts & Designs
It's all about what you do with money. The only thing that makes money "evil" is our relationship to it, how we perceive it. It's our love and greed for money that causes so much chaos in this world, but that's a whole other can of worms.
If money completely disappeared from the face of the Earth, will all our problems go with it? Or would we humans just use another system in exchanging goods and services?
Before money there was the barter system, which wasn't as practical. Imagine if you wanted to purchase a sword. You go up to a blacksmith and ask him what he wants for his finest sword. He says to you:
"I want 3 mules"
"3 mules?" you ask. "But I don't have 3 mules, all I have is a bag of gold."
"I don't need any gold. If you want this sword, you're going to have to offer me 3 mules."
Now you're pissed because you've come all this way to get rejected. How are you going to find 3 mules? So now you're fucking around, searching high and low, hoping to God that you will find a merchant that will trade 3 of their mules for your bag of gold.
Can you see how this system would be very time consuming and tedious?
There has and always will be a form of currency, which is just energy flowing. Since the dawn of time humans have been exchanging goods for trades and services. Money is just the natural evolution that was bound to happen. It's a universal currency that is incredibly convenient. If we weren't using money, we'd be using something else like gold or silver.
Yes, many horrible things happen on this planet for money. War alone is fought, not for terrorism, but for the expansion of civilization - ie money. But like I said earlier, if it weren't for money we'd be using something else. Wars have been fought since the dawn of time, and so has the greed and gluttony of human kind.
Believe it or not, people aren't rich because they stiff the poor. They're rich because they've delivered a product that has served a large number of people. Whether it's something bad like McDonald's or something convenient like an iPhone. They've walked their talk with their original ideas and followed through.
Poor people are poor because of their belief systems. They are poor because they follow the traditional system and do what they're told. They work for the money instead of making money work for them. They always buy expenses and drown themselves in debt instead of investing in assets. They put all their time and efforts into their 9-5 job, which ends up getting taxed! Most people are financially illiterate and don't know how money works. But this is not our fault since no one has taught us.
Every single successful person has deviated from the norm and has gone the unconventional way. If you conform and do things just like everybody else, then guess what? You're going to be just like everybody else. Like Einstein says:
"The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. Those who walk alone are likely to find themselves in places no one has ever been before"
So no, money is NOT the root to all evil. Many societal problems come from our ignorance and conformity, not from pieces of paper. Many of us forget that we ARE the government and WE make the rules. We've just let them convince us that they hold all the power.
Peace