In the course of our day to day routines, we encounter many objects. However, very few objects in this world are quite as substantial and powerful as money. Wars are waged, people are killed and lives are often destroyed by the notion that their lives are nothing more than quests for more money. Never has an object been so important yet at the same time, damaging to society. Nevertheless, it gives our lives an exact rhythm, a particular allure and more importantly, a particular view of the world and our position in it. This position that money has maintained has had an enormous influence not only on the advance of mankind itself, but also our purposeful activity and our attitudes to work. Unlike any other object on this planet, problems arise when we don’t have money and yet at same time, more problems occur when we do. With that being said, it is truly delusional to think that we are in control of our money because truthfully, money is the one that controls us.
In order to comprehend the importance of money in both my life and its role in society, it is important to examine money and what it means to us on a philosophical level. Money has been both praised and cursed; it has been flaunted and despised. It creates stability and instability, all the while, creating life-long purposes for people who strive to obtain it and lifestyles for those who try to run from its mighty grasp. As I looked at it more, I realized that money is capable of just about anything; capable of creating and destroying entire civilizations of people, while at the same time, allowing people to unite in a common interest. It creates relationships for many of the world’s wealthy, even enabling old crumbling billionaires to marry beautiful supermodels like Anna Nicole Smith. But what truly does money bring to our lives? Is it a freedom to do whatever we want, thus releasing us from that burden of saying “I’d love to man but I’m really strapped for cash now”? And how about money and how it creates a sick and twisted dependence? Surely, there are many wealthy people out there but is that all these people “are” and all their contributions to the world will ever be?
The dictionary defines money as both a “value” and “mean exchange”. As a “mean of exchange”, money has helped shape the world as we know it. It has developed a concept of trade thus increasing and expanding the progress of goods and services and allowing us to create vital alliances in a world that lately appears to be so distant. As a “value”, it is quite difficult to determine what its value truly is. Before money was paper printed and coined, money existed in the form of metals and golds and the value of that actual gold or gem was ultimately, the value of the monetary object. As history progressed, money evolved into paper notes and coins that had only the value that was printed on them. This transition changed the view of money into a sign, and more or less, the importance to obtain it. Nonetheless, money’s true value, whether it is a value of mean or a mean of exchange, cannot be determined from the actual material, but rather from the social trials and tribulations that it creates.
Above all else, Money is an object and just like any other object, it has its own mode of traveling from one person to another. This unusual mode of moving from place to place makes money a reason for social contact and communication. Rap music today is a perfect example of this, as a majority of today’s artist’s lyrics flaunt to their fans how much “cash” they have and all the fancy things they are able buy with it. It is through mediums like this that an outsider like me can see that as a culture, we can collectively agree that a major goal in one’s life should be the desire to obtain wealth. Shows like fear factor and survivor, reinforce this idea that it is socially acceptable to do crazy things as long as these crazy things are for the sake of making money. If someone were to eat sheep eyes just for the sake of eating sheep eyes they would be labeled among many things “absolutely nuts”. Now if this same person were to appear on fear factor and perform the exact stunt for the sake of a million dollars, they would be branded “fearless” and “motivated”. So where is the distinction? When and under what circumstances is it socially acceptable to eat sheep eyes?
Sheep eyes or not, money has been proven to be quite dangerous in the hands of some people. Because of a universal significance money acts as an unconditional motivation for any kind of moral activity, even including the most atrocious and inhumane. Money can make any work appealing as in these cases, even work intended to harm a fellow man can prove to be a lucrative proposition. I read recently somewhere that suicide bombers are being paid rather handsomely for their allegiance to terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda. These bombers are more often or not people who are desperate for money; young people who in return for their sick dedication of strapping a bomb to their chest and running into a crowded area, provide their relatives respect in the community and money to help pay for food. Though times have changed, as men we are deep down “hunters” at heart and there seems to be a misconception that we must do anything to provide for the people we love. Money is an object that makes providing possible and the only reason leading these bombers to murdering innocent people.
As a young college student in America, I’ve thought a lot about money and its significance in my life. Whether I realize it or not, I am at a vital period in my life and a time where I must buckle down to get good grades in order to get a good job to make a lot of money. But when I really look at it, is this all my life is about? I would love to think that it isn’t but the more I look at myself and the man I am becoming, I realize that it is an enormous part of my life. As a person of reason, I realize that if I don’t make money, many of my life aspirations will be unreachable. I won’t be able to travel the globe and it certainly would be difficult meeting that excellent woman to spend my life with without having making a decent income. In my perfect world, where money didn’t affect me, I would enjoy lying around all day on some tropical beach while at night, scoping out the nightlife while celebrating and eating steaks dinners. In this world, I would be free from any care of the future and the burden of knowing that the amount of money I make can have a major role in determining the life that I will lead. However, this is not the case as I live in a world that is shaped by money; and the sooner I realize this, the safer and better off I will be.
