The Truth About Money

I’ve been watching Mr. Robot. I love that show. But they really trash the concept of money, and that bothers me, because money is not a problem. People are the problem.

Money is one the greatest inventions since the wheel. It’s right up there with the written language and the computer. Without money we’d all still be wandering around in animal skins looking for food. There would be no internet without money.

If we didn’t have money, every time you wanted eggs, you’d have to find the egg guy and give him something he wanted. If you didn’t have anything he wanted, you’d have to find someone who did. Then you would trade for that, then go back to the egg guy, and hope he still had eggs.

Of course, now that we have the internet, maybe you could go online to get a list of everything the egg guy needs. Let’s say he wants strawberries. You could probably find a bunch of people trading strawberries, but what if they don’t need anything you have? Maybe the strawberry guys are in the market for quinoa; so you look up the quinoa guys. Turns out that one of them is indeed seeking something you can offer. There is just one small problem.

How do you figure out how much quinoa you'll need to give to the strawberry guys to get enough strawberries to buy the number of eggs you need?

This is why we have money. (It’s also why we have math.)

Money is not evil, greed is evil. Greed is not inside money. Greed is inside people.  And contrary to Gordon Gekko, greed is NOT good.  The capitalistic system has failed, not because the system is flawed; it has failed because people have chosen to worship money at the expense of humanity.

Money does not choose to hire people overseas so companies can pay workers less than a living wage in the U.S. People do.

Money does not look the other way when handed a bribe, allowing criminal behavior to go unpunished. People do.

Money does not cheat on carbon emissions tests, so vehicles appear to meet clean-air standards when they do not. Money does not choose to use unsafe water sources to reduce costs. Money does not direct politicians to make side deals for perks, or lobbyists to push for agendas that are clearly not in the interests of the public. People do.

We are blaming an inanimate tool for the behavior of individuals. 

Millennials want to change the system. I feel you, but you don’t need to do that. Just put different people in charge. Seek out people whose moral compass doesn’t allow them to cheat, lie, coerce, or take advantage of others, even if they can get away with it.

Vote for people who solve problems, not people who talk about it while benefiting from the very problems they purport to solve. (See Cash for Kids.) Demand that law enforcement officials pledge to seek out violations of this basic moral principle, and when found, remove the guilty from their positions of power.  

People before Profits. Violators will be removed from power. Period.

This needs to be the underlying theme behind all political appointments, if we want things to change in any substantial way.

We are entering a new age: The Age of Morality. We can no longer afford to let what we are capable of determine what we do. We need to choose based on what we believe is right, not just possible; and we need to do it every day, in every situation. 

So when you vote, vote wisely.  Vote for the people who have a proven record of utilizing money to help people, rather than abusing people to make money. If you can’t find people who fit that requirement, run for office yourself, or recruit your friends. 

We need a sea change in our fundamental operating strategy. These things don’t come from changing the laws, as much as they come from changing mindsets.  As long as we continue to allow our country’s most powerful positions to be filled by those who put money above all else, we are lost.