Is money evil? Or are you?

After yesterday's words you might think that I feel as many do, that "money is the root of all evil". But that is not at all true. Let us say that I have a good understanding of and a healthy respect for money, even though it often seems like the source a great many bad things.  It is not the money itself which is evil.

Money is a tool that can be used to accomplish a great many things. Like other tools the danger comes from how it is used and the intent of the user. For example, fire is a tool which can be used to take raw ingredients and turn them into tasty food. It can also be used to boil water thus killing harmful bacteria and making otherwise dangerous water safe to drink. Fire can be used in both constructive and destructive ways. It can even be used to both heal and to kill. But fire is not evil. And neither is money.

Even a tool whose purpose is only violence such as a sword is not evil, for it can be wielded by one with the purest heart and good intentions who only wishes to protect others. Conversely it can be wielded for terrible dark purposes. But it is not the tool that is bad it is the person wielding it.

The purpose of money is so that we might have a standard system for valuing things. At first glance it may be rather difficult to find an acceptable comparable value between say a pickup truck and a pig, between an acre of land and a pair of rubber gloves, or between a hot meal and the cost of adding another bedroom to your home. By comparing everything to a single standard and placing a value on it based upon that standard it becomes a simple matter to see how any one item stacks up against any other.

As the saying goes, money may not be able to buy happiness. But, if you are willing to be honest, you kind of have to admit that money has created more happiness than poverty has. After all, it is through money that you are able to buy and do many of the things that are essential to living a happy successful life.

But, just as an obsession with fire is an unhealthy and dangerous thing, so is an obsession with money. There is nothing wrong with wanting great amounts of money so that you can properly take care of those that you love and to enjoy nice things. It is when one dreams of having money just for the power that it can bring and to use that power to rule over others that one gets brought over to the dark side.

Why do you desire money? What drives you to obtain it? And when you have it what do you do with it or what do you intend to do with it?