Money Is NOT Evil
Posted: Wednesday, December 14, 2011
by Octavia Hansen
Octavia Hansen
Everyone I've ever heard quote it, gets it wrong: it's NOT that money is the root of all evil. It's the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil. Even Pink Floyd got that one wrong in their song Money, from Dark Side Of The Moon.
Like most things, it's what you do with it that makes it good or evil. Good and bad implies morality, and inanimate money does not have this capacity. And it's not what money can purchase, it's the people making these decisions that are the good and bad parts. Money that can buy bullets can also buy food. Money that buys illegal drugs can finance an education. The same implements that feed you can kill you -- see how that works?
Money is just another tool if you can master it. Shame that more people are not taught about money. Most people learn by trial and error, mostly error, and it costs them. Sometimes it's just cash. Sometimes it is their house. For all the hours kids spend in school, most don't understand the concept of a credit card or saving money. It is not taught but you will be penalized if you do not understand how to use money.
Las Vegas is built on people's misconception of money . . . cash is turned into chips as fast as possible. Chips do not relate to the psyche as actual money so people tend to go through it freely. Contrary to the advertising campaign, what happens in Vegas can cost you a lot. If things actually stayed in Vegas, then you would only be broke in Vegas. Credit cards work the same way, when it's not actually cash leaving your hand, it's hard to realize how much your purchase really costs. Advertising commercials play on your desires but not the responsibilities of money.
Also, and you must chant this continually any time you are in Las Vegas or decide to gamble anywhere: The odds are always with the house. Las Vegas, with it's mega-hotels and magnificent new buildings coupled with being open all day and all night, was NOT built on handing out money to winners. Yes, there are a few who win. Ask these questions: When did they win? Where did they come from? If you look closely and read the small print, most winners are from a few years ago and come from far away places. I personally have NEVER known a winner of a million, or even a notable thousands of dollars, and no one I've ever met knows a million dollar winner.
This is the same as lottery winners. There are few good stories that come out of the very few that have won a lottery . . . anywhere. Again, it's because people don't know how to handle money. Like alcohol and drugs, money changes people. There's a wonderful joke: A woman wins the lottery and immediately calls her husband. "I won!" she says, "Start packing!" "What do I pack? Warm clothes? Light clothes?" asks her husband. "Anything," she says, "Just be out of the house by the time I get home!"
When I was still commuting to Las Vegas, every time I returned, everyone asked if I had won. "Sure," I said, "I'm a millionaire. I'm just so used to living in poverty that I came back anyway." Yea, like I'd bother to return to my meager existence if I had spare cash. (For the record, I don't gamble, I don't drink and I don't smoke . . . so where's my money? I should have a million bucks somewhere I haven't spent!)
I'm always skeptical of anything that involves some organization or stranger and my wallet. I especially question established religions wanting my money -- God needs cash? The all powerful being will have to settle his own bills. And the head of whatever church is living where and driving what? Again, I seem to be the only person asking these questions. Not like I study the bible but I knew Jesus gave away a lot of stuff and said it was okay to be poor, setting himself as a personal example. This alone sets me against the church in Rome.
Many years ago, I used to really get ticked off when I was accosted in the airports by religions and cults. This was fully realized in the 1980 movie "AIRPLANE!" when the guy had to fight his way past religious pan handlers. I was told when the movie was new that people cheered that scene. If devotees of whatever religion or cult had time to hang around inside airports and beg -- then they had time to get a job and give everything they earned to the Lord, and stop bugging me. I made my religious decisions many years ago -- and it doesn't include supporting someone else who apparently isn't working.
Money is many things. Some people will kill for it. Some will marry for it. Some people cannot hang onto it, others know how to make it grow. There's always a scam, there's always a great deal that got away. I've heard hundreds of times how someone was close to winning the lottery. I've heard a thousand hard luck stories from friends, from family, from strangers on the street holding a sign declaring their poverty. I've been burned a few times making loans that will never be repaid. It's only money. I can make more money but I can't make more time. Guess it all comes down to priorities.
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