A lot of people say that the root of all evil is money. Those who say it’s so don’t take into consideration who the root of money is in the first place. It’s not money that is the root of all evil and it’s is not greed nor fear but ignorance. Be it power or money, greed and fear are simply the manifestation of ignorance. Webster defines ignorance as “lacking of knowledge, education or awareness.”Money is meant for the good of everybody for it makes everyone’s life easier by providing everyone of us an efficient and effective medium of exchange. Thanks to money, we don’t need to live with the barter system kind of trade to exchange our pig for a candy, a candy for a watch, a watch for clothing and so on.
When it comes to money and because of ignorance, there are 2 common emotional responses experienced by most people: Fear and Greed. Greedy people are ignorant with money because they hoard it too much for something meaningless or short termed. That’s why we see some very thrifty people (though not all thrifty people are greedy) who saves every cent they have even at the cost of people’s respect towards them. Then we have the thrifty rich person who saves every peso he has because it makes him feel “powerful” and “good” even at the expense of people. And we have the greedy man who gambles everything he has even if he has too much only to be broke and miserable at the end of the day. Greedy people are ignorant with money because they accumulate it for no reason at all or, if there’s a reason, for a superficial and a short term one.
We, then, have the fearful people who either avoid money or hold money because they’re too afraid of something they even don’t know! A lot of fearful people have jobs they hate deep inside but they stick for the rest of their lives because they are too afraid of losing the job that provides them the money to support their lifestyle. Some are frugally rich who are afraid to let go of their money because they derive their security from it. Fearful people are ignorant of money because, like greedy people, they accumulate and, worse, avoid it at all cost for no specific reason or, if there’s a reason, an illusionary one!
As you all know by now, money is a very emotional subject. If you don’t want to make someone feel uneasy, don’t talk about taboo topics such as money, sex, politics and religion. Instead, talk about the weather, people, and other subjects that ordinary people talk to cover up their fears and greed. These people are slaves to money and are usually the ones who makes the excuse that the root of all evil is money. But in reality, it’s their ignorance of money that makes this world a dangerous place to live filled with greedy and fearful people.
Acknowledging that money is not the problem but people and even oneself takes a radical change of perspective that takes a lot of courage to go against society’s perspective towards money and the continuous financial education. Whether we like it or not, money is a reality and we are ought to place this reality in proper perspective. We need to put this idea of money in the proper perspective so we can stop worrying about it or pretending that such reality doesn’t exist. By taking care of our finances and our physical needs, we can then focus on things that are really important. The cure to financial ignorance is simply financial enlightenment. And financial enlightenment is financially educating oneself on what really money is all about, disciplining one’s baseless emotions and doing what one ought to do because the subject of money is placed in the proper perspective. Financially educating is a commitment that takes time and effort. It takes paying the price and if you ever think that financially educating yourself is expensive, try ignorance.
Yes, money can’t buy happiness but it can buy you the time you need to do the things you love and are passionate about. Yes, money is not everything but it’s definitely something you can use to send poor kids to school and see these kids become contributing members of society who are eternally grateful for you. And yes, money is a tool for destroying civilizations and obliterating enemies but it can be a medium for enduring peace and development.
It’s not about the money. It’s about us, humans. God has called each and one of us to be stewards of his creations and money is not an exception. As I see it, it’s very selfish for a man to keep himself ignorant about money because it’s a sign of his being irresponsible as a steward to God’s creations. We are called to serve God by becoming the best person we can be. We can’t be the best persons we can be if we let ignorance of money hinder us from doing so.
Never let the fear, greed or ignorance of money stop you from becoming the person you ought to be. Enjoy financially educating yourself! People who are bigger than themselves do so. You are not alone!
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