Is Money Evil?
Jul 6th, 2007 by Joel
The Roots of All Evil
Money.
Why do we love it, and hate it?
How did we get so messed up about money?
Money does seem to be at the root of many problems.
- People commit crimes for money.
- They betray their integrity and their beliefs to get a little more money.
- Countries go to war for land or natural resources or trading rights.
- Men and women sacrifice their relationships and their health for money.
Is money (or love of money, if we want to get the quote right) the root of all evil?
I think money has some real competition for that title.
There are many beliefs, ideas, and things that are blamed for the evil that people do in the world.
Popular choices include physical pleasure, money, possessions, power, honor, nationalism, racism.
Many (but not all) religions and spiritual paths renounce part or all of everyday life due to the spiritual dangers that life offers. The greatest praise is then reserved for the monks who withdraw from the world’s pleasures to pursue spiritual development.
This may be a common point of view, but it’s not universal. There are other traditions that insist that the only way to achieve spiritual greatness is by successfully facing the challenges of everyday life.
Popular Opinion
It’s very common for people to think that money is bad. Their beliefs may come from the religious/spiritual tradition that they grew up in.
Or they may be influenced by political beliefs that assert that it’s wrong for one person to have more than the next.
Some people believe that it’s impossible to get rich without abusing other people.
Or, it may just be a case of “sour grapes”. If I’m not successful at making a lot of money, I may just decide that money’s not good for me anyway, and tell myself how thrilled I am that I’m not subjected to that evil.
Power and Danger
Why does money create such a spiritual challenge for many people?
Money is an amplifier. Money is a high-power fuel.
Take an old machine that’s just barely holding itself together. Run it at a slow speed using a low power fuel, and the machine can hold itself together and keep moving in an orderly way.
But give it powerful fuel, and run it at full speed, and all of the machine’s imperfections are exaggerated.
The machine becomes unstable and tears itself apart.
How does this relate to you and me?
Money is a powerful tool which empowers you to do almost anything. It’s like a magic wand that makes it easy for your desires to come to life.
Money is possibility. Money is magic.
If I live a sheltered life and my character is unfinished and untested, an imperfection may cause little harm to me or anyone else.
But if I take that person with the character flaw and give her tremendous power to do whatever she wants, the imperfection will be amplified and may cause serious damage.
Anything that is powerful is dangerous, in untrained, unprepared hands.
The Price of Living
In old English, “price”, “prize”, and “praise” all derive from a single word. To put a price on something is to praise it – to see how valuable it is to you.
Money is the superhighway for value. It lets us easily move, exchange, and concentrate value.
It’s possible to have a barter economy, and exchange goods without using money as an intermediary, just like it’s possible to exchange information and communicate at a distance without the internet.
But without money, the goods usually move slowly, and without the internet, information moves slowly.
There are real dangers that come with the power of the internet, such as sexual predators, con artists, and terrorists exchanging information in a moment.
With great power, comes great danger.
Money, the Internet, physical pleasure, all the wonderful things that have been created, and fill life with possibility — almost everything can be used in wonderful ways, or abused.
So.
Do we keep blaming the powerful tools that we’ve been given?
Do we surround ourselves with fear because of the danger?
Do we abandon all technology, all science, all knowledge because we don’t trust ourselves to use it responsibly.
No.
We have to stand up.
Yes, we have to find ways to protect people against the abuses of some who will misuse every powerful tool.
But more importantly, you and I have to find the greatness in ourselves. We have to build ourselves up through living in the world and facing its challenges, and finding balance. We have to learn to wield the magic wands of money, knowledge, etc to build up the world.
We can’t retreat to a glorious stone age where the only challenge was surviving.
It’s time to stop hiding.
Money is a tool. Like any tool it can be used wisely or misused. Who is the #1 philanthropist? Bill Gates.
Tom Spanton, TRCoach, TRCoach.com
Such a beautiful site!
Thank you for clarifying a concept that so many misconstrue or misquote - the LOVE of money, not money itself.
How can you help others if you are drowning?
Thank you,
Brennan
“Lack of money is the root of all evil” George Bernard Shaw. I have to agree.
Excellent post!
I have seen wealthy folks who are overcome with money, and poor folks who are filled with anger and jealousy ….
It is not the money itself but how it is viewed that is the problem…
Thanks for this thoughtful article,
Jennifer
Money for sure has many definitions. I do believe that no matter what vice is chosen in the pursuit of unfufilled happiness it leads to an addiction and that simple form of energy whether money, food, alcohol or drugs becomes a negative energy in that persons life.
It is true that living in today’s world we do need money in order to survive just like the caveman needed shelter, tools and weapons to survive in his environment.
I understand that far as Universal Law goes there is enough money to go around for all. Money or not I am still a happy person. :o)
P.S.
I confess though that fiancial security is one of my desires to achieve from our loving universe.
Wonderful post!
Wow. This post was so wonderfully put. Money is not the root of all evil, it is what we do with money, that can cause evil consequences. I am very glad that I stumbled upon your blog today, I will be bookmarking it.
You have touched a vital aspect of human life.
“Money may not buy happines,but with it you can be miserable in comfort.”..
A good post.
People think they want money, they love money, they need money. In fact, we want not the money but the things that money can bring us - all those pleasures that money can buy. Unfortunately they forget that a) you don’t need a lot of money to get most pleasures in this life; b) you can earn whatever amount of money you need, it’s just a matter of time, desire and focus :)
Someone once told me money is not real. The more real you think it is the harder you will work for it. Look at the richest people in the world. Money is what they say it is. Think about bill gates surely who says that windows xp has to be $200? Well he markets it then we see the advertisements and then if he can convince us to buy it at that price then it becomes the buying price.
Very vague but hope you get my drift.
It is surely time to stop hiding. Being afraid solves nothing, being responsible with what we have is everything. And using what we have and what other people have is bliss, but only under the guidance of responsibility.
And remember, money has a value because it is the most effecient way of exchanging value. Nothing else. The day money is less effecient than anything else, that day money will no longer have the highest value in our world. That day, Bill Gates or Warren Buffet will no longer be regarded the richest people in the world. The change can be imminent. Wealth has to do with your mindset and knowing who you are benief your skin if all the money you have is stripped and gone.
That raises the question: What will be the currency of tomorrow:)?
If money itself were not evil, than the love of money would not be the root of all evil.
A more accurate statement would be that the use of money is the root of all evil,or perhaps money ‘gives ‘root to evil.Without question,evil exsist independent of currancies,but upon carefull observation you will see that money can both facilitate evil,and legitimize various forms of evil.Consider the drug dealer peddling his poison .Consider the developer who against the wishes of a community,procedes with the destruction of a beloved forest or glade.Thanks to money,evil resists termination.Money also causes evil to be nessacary,and even causes good to become or seem to become evil ! The forest must be destroyed for jobs or else we starve,despite the fact that the forests destruction will one day,be our own destruction.
The sins of pride and greed predate money,but it is through the invention,circulation and use of money that these sins are rewarded,normalized,and even multiplied.Every currancy note,regardless of denomination ,symbolizes and gives legality to mans false notion of ownership,ownership of God’s creation.This is the just of money.Greedy men have always sought to own the world,but before money, no illusion could give credit to their greed.With money,a pridefull illusion of ownership is given great substance.Indeed according to the records of man ,a few elite now own much of creation, via money.This ,with no further justification needed,is why I say money is evil.
James:
Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
I certainly agree that we were created to make use of this world in a responsible way, as caretakers.
However, we were created to excel at making and using tools of all kinds.
The more powerful the tool, the greater ease and potential for good or evil. Tools are amplifiers which express what is inside of us.
As a powerful tool, money often facilitates evil, and it facilitates good.
Any source of power (and money is among the strongest) enables us to pretend that the world is ours to do with as we please.
Before money there were land, armies, possessions, and other ways to feel powerful and arrogant. We are often weak, and looking for a quick fix. We go after external sources of power and greatness, rather than the real power that comes from inner strength.
Tools, and sources of external power (such as money) make it easy for us to express the worst in us, and thereby become even more caught up in foolishness.
Still, tools and external power are not good or evil. We are.
We will not stop evil by outlawing tools or power, only by working on our own hearts.
Joel
Really good post.
Yes, money is a tool. However, I would like to point out ,lately we have become a tool for money.
Everything is like a coin, they have two sides…Moreover, we humans have a nature of finding flaws..
And its true, we need to make proper use of it as we cannot go back to stone age.
Money…
Currency in general.
What makes it evil is it’s inequality.
Are we all human?
I would say yes to that, and we all live on the same planet, correct?
So why does my neighbor have more or maybe less than I do, if we both are human beings and both share the same planet?
Money is I’ve heard tell everyone share of the earth, Currency, which is all fine and dandy till there are those that have way to much and those that have way to little…
Ok so that evens out I have read. HOW? With most society’s there is a very real law of SUPPLY and DEMAND. You have a percentage that has so much money it is quite disgusting then it makes the little the lower percentage has even that much less…
Ok let’s say you do agree with me that we are all human and we all live on earth. OK we are on same page there.
So lets say you have a rich family, and a poor family.
What would be the difference in the two? Money? yes but more than that.
for example, I am sure the poor family has tastes just as the rich, they both have two kids and they are once again both human beings right?
Well how much would you want to bet that because of money they both live totally different.
The rich gets the best quality of health care, education, and quality of living in general maybe even get to go on vacations around the world and enjoy our planet Earth.
The poor family, would get whatever education, or healthcare that most likely the society was willing to give them. Vacation, forget it closes they will get is a book at the public library to read about visiting other places on earth but to ever step foot there, not even a chance.
So now you tell me is MONEY the root of all EVIL?
Maybe not, Maybe it’s the INEQUALITY of all Human Beings that is EVIL.
For if every person on earth had an EQUAL share of money, then Money would no longer hold that EVIL conatation.
I know people who just read that rolled their eyes about everyone having an equal share of all the money in the world and that saddens me, if you didn’t then your on your way…
For we will never reach enlightenment or “Utopia” till everyone is truly thought of as an Equal in ALL things.
We all are human beings, we all live on the same planet, so why has everything become mine and yours, and not OURS…
There was a great commercial years ago, by Coke i believe where they all joined hands across the world. What a wonderful thought.
But until the Greed of a few, finally outweigh the suffering of many, we will never ALL TRULY BECOME EQUAL HUMAN BEINGS (Earthlings), and things will never change…
JB
Money is a numerical system of belief which is used to dominate and control people. If money was a voluntary issue it would be a different matter. But government enforces money with the threat and use of violent force.
Evil existed before money so it is inaccurate to say “money is the root of all evil.” But it is accurate to say “it is easier to do evil with money than it is to do good.” This is because of the nature of money as “only quantity.” There is no quality attached to money. I don’t know how you earn your money. It doesn’t matter. All I care about is how much you have.
ONLY QUANTITY MATTERS. This makes money inherently evil because it relegates QUALITY to the domain of “irrelevant.”
Of course, quality matters. But money doesn’t recognize it.
We need a new economic system which recognizes quality. If there is only one way to do something then we are living in a tyranny … the tyranny of money.
Do spoons make people fat?
Do pencilz mispel wordz?
No.
Money is merely a tool.
Any tool can be misused.
Excessive creation of new money out of thin air is a form of theft.
Governments with massive debt (one of 10 major abuses) use excessive money-printing to reduce debt, which devalues the currency.
At any rate, the voters have the government that the voters elect (and re-elect, and re-elect, and re-elect , . . . , at least until that finally becomes too painful).
Hi all,
Currency is one of the most important inventions every devised. It is what allowed rapid human advancement. The main reason for our rapid advancement is money. (Corporations spend money on R&D to make more money and beat competition…this never ending circle is perfect for advancement.
A very very interesting article: http://www.turtletrader.com/atlas_shrugged.html This article will make you better understand just how important\vital money is.
Thanks,
Sam
Money itself is not the bad thing but the love of money is bad thing