by Christine G.

Created on: August 19, 2010

Money is a tool.  Like all tools, it can serve you, or it can hurt you.  How much we have is less important than how we use it.  A millionaire in the last stages of terminal cancer would happily give everything he has to change places with his healthy, vigorous janitor who whistles while he works.

In today's global economy, the value of money is an illusion.  Those who believe that faith no longer exists need only look at the absurdity of financial gamesmanship.  What's in your wallet?  Some plastic and paper and metal.  You can't eat them, wear them, or ride on them.  We can exchange them for goods and services only because other people share the illusion that those bits of useless garbage have some lasting value. 

The symbolic value of money defies common sense.  If you were marooned on a desert island for a week, what would you rather have: a thousand hundred-dollar bills, or a bottle of fresh water?

The illusion is so strong that it even allows us to spend money that we don't have.  Consumer debt statistics are mind-boggling, as are the debts incurred by nations.  How in the world are people allowed to get themselves so deeply in a hole the can never climb out of?  The creditors do it for the sake of making more money through interest.   The debtors don't want to face reality, so they tell themselves that the economy will keep expanding, inflating their income and deflating their debt until it magically disappears.

On the other side of the coin, those who are able to save money often find themselves penniless overnight.  Germany went through major "financial reforms" after both wars, vaporizing both debts and savings.  All countries keep re-adjusting the value of their currency for the sake of world trade, domestic prosperity, and the agendas of financial stake-holders whose power rests on their ability to mesmerize the crowd with smoke and mirrors. 

Money can't buy happiness; at best, it can make misery more comfortable.  It can't buy self-esteem; at best, it can be used to manipulate others into feigning admiration, affection, or respect.  It can't buy love; at best, it can be used to hire a skilled prostitute.

Spending money benevolently and intelligently can change people's lives for the better.  A well, a bag of seed, or a truckload of food and medication are investments which can make a significant difference to a family or even the entire community.  It is ironic that money has no practical usefulness until the moment that we part with it.

Used responsibly, money can be a useful servant, but not necessarily a reliable one.  Those who pursue wealth for the sake of wealth will find it a brutal master who is never satisfied.  Believing that money has intrinsic value is a fallacy, a dream without substance, like believing that a drug high can last forever.  Sooner or later, we all have to wake up and discover what is really important.

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