by Stephen Poulitsis

Created on: August 24, 2010   Last Updated: March 24, 2011

Egotistical powerful leaders whose motivation is to control nations often subject their own populace to reigns of terror. To rule through fear and control requires money, and it is an interesting phenomenon that communist dictators who ran countries into grinding poverty lived with personal wealth which was far beyond any one persons need.

Despots and dictators amass personal wealth which can be used to subjugate their subjects, paying for weapons. Those motivated by power seek the reward of blood money. Although money is not the root of all evil it is a prize sought by the powerful for the control it brings, and the status it gives which lifts such leaders from the reality of the conditions they impose on others.

Leaders such as Nicolae Ceausescu and Enver Hoxha bled their own countries dry. Communist ideologies were not behind their motives and they had much in common with dynastic leaders and fascist rulers. While some leaders desire power and control beyond all else, and demand abject subservience from people who live in daily fear of any outward expression of criticism of the regime, the money they amass often leads to their sons turning into corrupt individuals.

They have entitlement to buy their way out of any situation, and use their wealth in an abhorrent way. Arab Princes who routinely use their staus to break every law they impose upon their own population have the protection of their wealth.

Accustomed to believing in their rights to wealth and protected by the machinations of power which prop up the regimes, human outrages without conscience take place. Faced with the prospect of disease, what is the life of one child on the streets of Malaysia worth when a rich and protected Arab wants a kidney?

The tales of human servitude which some impose on Filipinos who routinely work in Arab states to send money home are appalling. Money is a factor which protects them and gives them a sense of entitlement and contempt for those who fail to share their riches. Money did not make them evil but it played its part in their corruption.

Of course evil acts can be committed by the poorest people when circumstances allow and money has no influence on their acts. The prolific Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo lived in poverty and gained nothing of monetary value through his murders. At the other end of the scale money is often the motivation for murder rather than personal gratification through the act of killing.

Money is simply a commodity, yet throughout history it has been coveted by those who commit evil acts to amass it. From Jewish riches plundered by the Nazis to wars fuelled by the greed of those who seek to control the oil which represents wealth, money is often found to be if not the primary motivator, at least a satisfying reward. Money is not the root of all evil but more easily allows evil to flourish.

Learn more about this author, Stephen Poulitsis.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.