The Root of all Evil
Folks familiar with my novels might assume that I’d say organized religion was the root of all evil. They would be… wrong. Those who know me personally might say that I’d point out politicians as the roots of all things vile and evil in the world. They’d be wrong, as well. Although organized religion and politicians serve the one, true evil master in a variety of ways, and to a varying degree of reward; the root of all evil is – money. I know… the “have nots” always point to money as the biggest problem facing humanity, while the “haves” smugly disagree. Well, when the have-nots outnumber the haves something like 10,000 to 1; it’s easy to see why the majority of the world’s population feels that way.
Dispensing with a tenuous, detailed history, let’s simply say that money as a concept has been around since about 5000 BCE in the form of goods/services rendered and received. Actual money – coins – came into being in the Western world about 700 BCE, and most historians’ credit the Lydians (now Turkey) as using metal as coins. The invention of paper money has been credited to the Chinese around 960 CE. There is a point in time when money, as a commodity (linked to an agreed upon value of something tangible) became representative (backed by a government or bank, and based upon a certain amount of silver or gold). No one is certain when this came about, but best guesses are the mid-1700’s. The history of money, however, is not the subject. The subject is how money has become the “be all – end all” of every form of human interaction. I can’t think of one single thing, not one, that is not associated, attached to, influenced by or generated by money. Even the basic human emotions have become dependent or influenced by money.
Money and Fear (the second root of all evil) have been used by those in power (having money) to subjugate humanity around the globe and throughout history. This one percent of the world’s entire population is inviolable, safe and secure in the arms of their brethren; connected groups that closely guard their own riches, and insure that only those “deserving”… enter their ranks. They make the laws, they own the property, and they run the banks. They are the masters of the world, as we know it. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. It could be different. A man named Jacque Fresco has a plan. He’s worked on it for most of his life and he’s over ninety years old. Mr. Fresco suggests that technology and the Earth’s resources could sustain all of humanity without the need for money. Everyone would have equal access to every resource imaginable – from the latest in entertainment technology to the health care to food and sustenance.
Mr. Fresco’s website hosts a very interesting video about The Venus Project. On face value, I find the concept intriguing. Still, it strikes me a bit too… utopian and I’ve several unanswered questions. Off the top, if such a world society were at all possible; I think it would require a completely new methodology for educating our children, over many generations, for any hope of success.
Dispensing with a tenuous, detailed history, let’s simply say that money as a concept has been around since about 5000 BCE in the form of goods/services rendered and received. Actual money – coins – came into being in the Western world about 700 BCE, and most historians’ credit the Lydians (now Turkey) as using metal as coins. The invention of paper money has been credited to the Chinese around 960 CE. There is a point in time when money, as a commodity (linked to an agreed upon value of something tangible) became representative (backed by a government or bank, and based upon a certain amount of silver or gold). No one is certain when this came about, but best guesses are the mid-1700’s. The history of money, however, is not the subject. The subject is how money has become the “be all – end all” of every form of human interaction. I can’t think of one single thing, not one, that is not associated, attached to, influenced by or generated by money. Even the basic human emotions have become dependent or influenced by money.
Money and Fear (the second root of all evil) have been used by those in power (having money) to subjugate humanity around the globe and throughout history. This one percent of the world’s entire population is inviolable, safe and secure in the arms of their brethren; connected groups that closely guard their own riches, and insure that only those “deserving”… enter their ranks. They make the laws, they own the property, and they run the banks. They are the masters of the world, as we know it. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. It could be different. A man named Jacque Fresco has a plan. He’s worked on it for most of his life and he’s over ninety years old. Mr. Fresco suggests that technology and the Earth’s resources could sustain all of humanity without the need for money. Everyone would have equal access to every resource imaginable – from the latest in entertainment technology to the health care to food and sustenance.
Mr. Fresco’s website hosts a very interesting video about The Venus Project. On face value, I find the concept intriguing. Still, it strikes me a bit too… utopian and I’ve several unanswered questions. Off the top, if such a world society were at all possible; I think it would require a completely new methodology for educating our children, over many generations, for any hope of success.
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