11-30-2021
To begin, we are not talking about interest as being the cost of money. Usury is what usury is, a payment to borrow.
No, we begin with the concept of a creator; that I did not create myself, therefore some other force is at work doing the creating: not me, not you. Our founders started out the same way. We are the “created”. Next is the concept that we can participate in creation thus emulating the higher authority. We can recognize that creating is more difficult than destroying, more noteworthy, more valuable. In fact, creating something creates value – thus the modern term “value added”. I personally find god (little g) in the act of creating things, especially physical things that did not exist before I began.
God (big G) is behind the creative force, but that’s beyond my pay grade. Little g I understand much better.
Now money was invented as a way to supersede barter. I have pigs to trade for grain, but you want horses; so rather than trading my pigs for horses and returning to trade for grain, we invent money and assign a value to it. How about gold?
Thus began the idea of economy, gold being the original standard. You can’t eat gold but you need it to eat.
Money in and of itself is not evil. It is what man has done to obtain money that is evil. It is corruption that is evil. It is our ideas about money that are evil. If money is our end goal then nothing good can come from it. If we use money to enhance creation, then only good may come.
I have heard and had many friends who say, “I don’t even think about money. I just do what I know is right and money finds me.” This is all very well and perfectly practical. As a younger man I did the same. It works every time. But to put your head in the sand and ignore the value of money is to make a complex relationship simplistic. I could only do it for so long.
Money is a tool we can use to reward those we love. We can also reward those we don’t even know who have done things to our benefit or to someone else’s benefit. It is the way we show appreciation. Sure, most of our money is taken from us by the government without our consent. This is thievery and income tax is unconstitutional yet long ago accepted by the population at large as being necessary. Income tax is one of the reasons so many people have the wrong idea about money. The corruption starts at the top.
Nothing pleases me more than leaving a big tip or giving a worker a bonus. When I spend money directly with a person who has earned or deserves it, I am manifesting reality. I am insuring that what one reaps is directly proportional to that which he sows. When we are aligned with reality we thrive. Using money properly makes for such alignment.
Likewise, paying too much for something I don’t want makes me weak and frivolous. Being forced to surrender my money is tantamount to giving up, quitting, or being intimidated. I feel violated. Why? Because money represents my liberty.
Money equates to the potential for freedom; and it symbolizes trust. We need it for everything and so having money makes us sovereign and offers us choices. This is the proper way to see money, not as an end in itself, but a means or tool by which to live. Our use of money tells reality what we believe and how we think. It brands us like no other physical material can. It literally broadcasts our choices and priorities.
In 1776 currency was not what it is today. One needed less of it because there were few material possessions and so many people lived off the land. Instead, our founders spoke of private property, which money is, which results from our personal industry. Merely comprehending the concept of personal property proves our sovereignty within the universe. Our right to have such a thing as personal property separates us from the animal kingdom and justifies our innate feelings that we are god-like. Once again, little g.
When we harness thriftiness and utilize natural resources we produce things that help the society at large. Unlike communism, where all share equally in the fruit of collective labor, our founding fathers believed that we should reap (be paid) for what we have sown (accomplished). This supports equality of opportunity, but not equality of outcome. In an ideal world we might reap to the degree that we try. But the God – big G – has placed us in unequal starting positions by way of geography and personal attributes. No one can comprehend why.
Printed on our currency are the words “IN GOD WE TRUST”. This is by no accident and although I have no knowledge of foreign currencies I wonder if any other sovereign have thought to articulate such a thought on legal tender. We trust that our bills have the value we assume they do; and would honest people print and count and regulate them, a fair system of trade could be had. Trust implies honesty, that what I promised is indeed what I will deliver, that with this bill I do swear my statements are true and I will hold my end of the bargain. It all sounds so corny these days.
We live in a time where gaming the system is thought to be a noble aim. We revel in deceit and trickery, finding the word “clever” far more complimentary than the word “naive”. Yet clever implies the deception while naive implies a stupidity based on honest acceptance. Which is the high road?
Universal truths lay a foundation that cannot be circumvented. Oh some will think they have fooled the universe into pledging to their cause even if the cause does not exist. Many have fooled the masses and reaped money uncountable, wealth beyond dreams. But do they truly benefit the world or benefit of the world? Neither, I say.
Funds honestly earned, or gained through honest trade, are symbolic of trust and mutual agreement. This product, in no small measure, promotes survival itself, underpinning a reality of utmost consequence. Yet when money is ill gained, the equation is not equal. One entity is enriched to the other’s demise. Value, the trust in currency, is voided. This result is a form of universal destruction, a force which life itself is in conflict with. For life defies entropy; and from this awareness ancient wisdom sought to paint the world on a canvass of good versus evil.
Therefore money, or rather the use of money, cuts through all propaganda to reveal reality. It is the ultimate truth serum. Money explains motivation which is of course where the adage “follow the money” came from. When it comes to money, you cannot hide your agenda, only confuse the issue with shell companies and silent bribes. How many books on the subject have been written?
When we think of money as an end we do injustice to the concept of economy. Money is the means by which we earn and trade. In fact, earning is a trade also – we trade our work to earn money. Developing a trade being synonymous with acquiring a skill that has market value.
Now here comes the hard part. The more equitable the trade, the more the two parties benefit. The less equitable, the less both parties benefit. How can this be? If money is a system to weigh value, then by paying too little for a trade we overvalue the units of that trade. This of course is relative to the trade itself and quickly overcome by the broader market valuation. But is that not what money represents? The perception of value?
Ah, the contradictions. How feeble I am to explain something so much larger than myself. Is this not the philosopher’s dilemma?
Value is indeed subjective. It relies on individual priorities as well as supply and demand. So how could any trade be unbalanced if another adage “buyer beware” is applied? Here lies the opinion. Whereas the honest person would seek fairness to obtain his need or want, the dishonest – or less honest – person seeks a landslide profit. He looks for angles or leverage, the subtle unspoken variables in any trade. To exploit these is to express a sense of superiority, either in terms of talent or class. This is exactly why elites can reap massive profits over commoners. They have more leverage, more power, more information than the common schmuck.
Within any system of economy, when the system itself becomes exploited, we see destruction on a massive scale, never creation. When we monetize everything, from the information needed to find our trade for item(s), to the access of currency, to the so called cost of transaction, we corrupt value exponentially.
Capitalism relies on honest people to be inventive, resourceful, and hard working. From their thriftiness a market will emerge to enrich all who enter. To the degree these members practice honest trade, a commensurate end will result. To the degree they cheat, a likewise commensurate end will result. The universe will always be balanced. So the true cost of money is not merely the applied interest rate. It is the quality of our lives and the integrity of our society. How we treat money – our understanding of it – how it affects our thinking – reveals our true nature.
I must ask, “What kind of people would tax the poor with inflation?” “Who would give millions in support of obvious mis truths?” And finally, when you place a monetary value on controlling others via extortion, subversion or bribery, what exactly are you saying to the universe?