Screw Money

I seriously hate the lust for money that is echoed throughout this world. It seems that when money is involved it is acceptable to set morals aside. It seems that money, a simple tool created to replace exchanging of goods, has overtaken this world.

I used the word lust instead of love there. I believe that it is lust which drives us towards money, and that drives the wealthy towards making more money instead of using theirs wisely/philanthropically.

There is more than enough wealth in the world to solve the problems we collectively face. As it stands, it seems the issue holding us back from a utopian civilisation is not lack of abundance, but lack of heart. A lack of unity, of love, of understanding that we are all in this together.

When money is involved people kidnap, cheat, lie, steal. They sell people as if they are objects, kill others who stand in their way, lie to customers to make sales on less than quality products. Manufacturers abuse the environment and refuse to make changes to fit into a green future as it costs money. Companies we rely upon boost prices, plea that it is out of their control, and then laugh as they roll around in the profits they have just reaped. A prime example would be energy companies in the UK right now. There are soaring energy prices, yet, they make profit. They say they can’t do anything about it yet, they make profit. People are unable to afford to cook potatoes as it uses too much energy, yet, these companies make profit.

Money could be a beautiful tool we use to help us trade with one another. It has been abused overtime to become a weapon. A system that separates us from each other by means of class, keeping us from realising no matter the wealth you have accrued you are still human. We are all the same. The superiority one may feel knowing they have earnt large amounts of wealth is in itself false. Only in a world torn by inequality can wealth even exist. Without others being poor, one cannot be rich.

So for wealth to exist, poverty needs to also exist. We have been herded into pens split up by class, race, gender, many means and are set loose to fight tooth and claw over what scraps of money are left in the economy for the people. The most amount of wealth comes from investment, for which many don’t have the capital to endeavour into. Even if some people did, others still wouldn’t.

I remember an economics class I attended at university. One day a masters student was using my class as part of his dissertation experiment. We were each given £2 and asked how we would split the money with another person. Nearly everyone said £1/£1. He was surprised. He said that the hypothesis was that most people would split the money £2/£0. Keep it for themselves.

He said, that’s the rational thing to do. There is a thing called rationality in economics, essentially that making decisions based on emotions can lead to bad decisions being made so it is better to be rational (emotion free) in financial decision making.

This opened up the question to me, is it rational to keep everything for oneself? Or, is it an emotion masked by intellectualism? The emotion of greed, selfishness, that’s what motivates one to keep everything for themselves. Is that rational?

Is it rational to keep for oneself when we literally depend on others to survive? Did you make your clothes, grow your food, clean your water today? No. You didn’t. We are an interdependent species. To me, sharing is the most rational decision in finance. I will share with you, please will you share with me.

This is just my opinions, but, to me it makes sense. I really disagreed with the whole argument for rationalism in economics and finance.

Then we get to interest, I rant about it often, it’s literally stupid. If interest had never been designed our wealth gap would be a lot smaller, hugely so actually, and as a result we would most likely have a happier nation.

It literally creates something from nothing, that doesn’t need to exist. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer on the basis of jack shit. Seriously. It creates nothing but a larger divide. Banks sure as hell don’t need your interest, they make enough money just holding ours, so why do they charge it?

The World Economic Forum among other groups tout for what is known as a “Financial Reset” – basically, cancel all the debt and start again with a fairer system. This, I feel, is a great idea.

Here’s a Financial Times article written by someone more learned in economics which explains it well.

The financial system could, with a financial reset, be rewritten. We created the financial system, we didn’t discover it. It is our creation and we can amend it as we like when realising there are problems. Inequality is a problem caused by our financial system, so it can be rewritten to eradicate inequality.

I believe that a revolution is needed on this planet. Or moreover, a series of revolutions. Financial being one of them, but perhaps not the first. First, we need a revolution of consciousness, of the self, to overcome our selfish ways. You can help with that. So can I, by being our highest selves, not falling into selfish ways ourselves. Sharing, loving, caring. The more we all do this the more others will as well, like a ripple effect in the collective.

As great as it is that a lot of people are able to make money in interesting ways these days, the fact of the matter remains, for some to be wealthy others need to be poor. Plus, we rely on workers to survive, and often essential jobs are paid the least. In some ways all jobs and careers are essential. Call me a hippie, but I truly believe we ALL deserve to be rewarded for our contributions towards society, and that we all deserve to be rewarded equally. What would you do with your life if you knew you would always be okay for money? Through means of a universal basic income or some other system? A lot of people would work for their passions, not set them aside to make money needed to survive. Ironically, I imagine a lot of people would strive to make change in the world, which they may want to already but need to make money to survive in the mean time and are left with little to no time to work on what they really care about.

Solving the financial inequality in the world would lead to other inequalities being solved, such as that of education which goes hand in hand with financial inequality. It is up to all of us to create these changes. We, us, the human race, WE are in charge. The problems in the world WE have created can be solved by US.

It just takes us waking up and realising that we are not victims of society, but creators of it, to start effecting change. You are alive during the greatest time of history, while humanity faces a cross roads as to which direction we want to evolve in. Down the path of social and environmental destruction, or the path of equality and nature. You can affect change in the world by making your own life the best it can be.

Peace n love always,

El x