Seeds of Revolution

Reflection on Money Money itself is not evil but loving it, and longing and lusting for it, are at the core of everything that is wicked and foul. Throughout world history, the love of money has been the destruction of human beings. In fact, the love of money has turned many human beings into absolute animals. From thirty pieces of silver to the fabled King Midas’s touch and the greedy man that killed the golden goose, the love of money has been the downfall of humankind. “Money kills more than do weapons.” (African Proverb) “Gold is the Satan’s fishhook.” (Illinois and Kentucky Proverb) “If you wish to be free from evil and wrongdoing, guard against the vice of greed and ravenousness for material things.” (Ptah Hotep) “Love of money is the root of all evil.” (Timothy 6:10) In a capitalistic society, everything has a price tag. And in order to get the things you want and need, you must have money. Because you have to pay for damn near everything from childhood until the day that you die — and even after you die the creditors that you owe, like the vultures they are, get first dibs on the money you may leave behind — money becomes the main theme for most people’s lives. Many people walk, talk, sleep, sweat, eat and defecate money. Because of the unquenchable thirst for material things from gold chains and designer clothes to million-dollar yachts and the hostile takeovers of both corporations and foreign countries, money becomes a god. In God We Tru$t…but the dollar we lu$t. The love of and obsession with money blinds our vision and deafens our ears toward the feelings of anyone else. The love of and obsession with money proliferates selfishness. This love and obsession creates a monster within human beings that become hell-bent on getting money by getting anything, anyone and/or everyone out of the way in that insatiable, crazed quest for the almighty dollar. “Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life. Now it’s money.” (Lorraine Hansberry) “If the social order judges success by material gain, the most successful will be the most corruptible and selfish.” (Temt Tchaas) “Dollars not only count, but they rule.” (Charles T. Walker) “You can cuss out colonialism, imperialism and all the other kinds of isms, but it’s hard for you to cuss that dollarism. When they drop those dollars on you, your soul goes.” (Malcolm X) The elite class with the highest concentration of wealth and money are commonly thought of as smart, hard-working, diligent and industrious individuals. The fact of the matter is that most of the wealth that the elite class of the world possesses was secured not by intelligence and brainpower. Most of their money was secured by devious means, by anything from manipulation to murder. Many of the Fortune 5 or 500 call themselves businesses when actuality it is legalized theft. They have learned to play the game. Most utilities, steel industries, oil cartels, multinational corporations, mining companies, international banks, etc., have blood-red hands that make greedy-green dollars. Because these powers and principalities are only concerned with profit, the societies in which the elite have control often imitate these corporate masters. There are a lot of junior capitalists and sycophants in the almighty bourgeoisie class. The elite are vampires and the poor, working class, and petty bourgeoisie become mosquitoes. The elite buy souls for a profit and the working class, the poor, and petty bourgeoisie often sell them for a loss. In the end, everyone is obsessed with money. From the richest 2% of the world’s capitalists to the guy holding a gun to your head in a back alley, everyone is willing to do anything and everything for that almighty dollar. From the thievery of stick- up men, pickpockets and muggers to military strikes, coups d’état, and foreign occupations, all of these acts are linked by the ravenous appetite for money. “One’s appetite grows on what it feeds upon.” (African Proverb) “Tell me what you want to buy and I will tell you what you are.” (Mexican Proverb) Often the bartering of one’s soul and integrity is hinged on the desire for money. The list of the number of people that have been given a receipt and bill of sale for selling their souls for the almighty dollar is boundless. From the golden calf to securities, stocks, and bonds, many humans become slaves to the never-ending desire for more wealth. The craving and yearning for more and more makes the deepest of oceans seem shallow and the highest of mountains like stepstools. From prostitutes to politicians, many a human being’s soul is put on the auction block, often being sold to and carted away by the highest bidder. “We are money-mad. Greed and wealth have chained the beast of power.” (W.E.B. Du Bois) As brilliant as were the ancient civilizations of Egypt, with architectural, mathematical, and scientific models, there was one thing that they got wrong. When they laid the material things in the tombs of the dead, they thought that the deceased would be able to take the material possessions with them. Maybe an honorable intention, but the same material possession laid in the tombs could not and would not be taken to the next life. The bottom line is death’s door filters all earthly possessions. Money…you can’t take it with you. All your money and the things you could buy with it come to a screeching halt at one’s casket. “Material treasures do not exercise any power over my person; the treasures I long to possess are spiritual.” (Augusto Sandino) “When I make my personal decisions in terms of my spiritual being instead of property, I have made a start.” (Anne Wilson Schaef) Spirituality vs. spending…that is the question. Often we chase the almighty dollar and neglect our spiritual development. It is often true that the more money we have, the farther we are from God. We focus on the sales papers and the stock pages of the Wall Street Journal, but scoff at homeless people that use the old newspapers and Wall Street Journals as blankets to fight off frostbite. When we are drunk with material obsession, our perspective becomes profit over people. We have underdeveloped our souls for the illusion of buying happiness. We have malnourished our souls for the cramming of our guts. You can buy lust but you cannot buy love. Wealth and riches can be stolen or taken away but unconditional love…never. For the greatest of blessings are the least appreciated. “For riches are not forever.” (Proverbs 27:24) “To pretend to satisfy one’s desires with worldly goods is like using straw to put out a fire.” (Chinese Proverb) In communities where oppressed people scuffle and scrape to survive, often the businesses located in these communities and the means of commerce are controlled by outsiders. The economic lifeblood of oppressed people’s communities is sucked dry and depleted by those that control the means of business. Wage dollars are paid and, before oppressed people see their income, the forces of business take it. Oppressed people buy most of the things they want and barely some of the things they need. Many oppressed people spend the little money they have on trinkets made of rubbish. Oppressed people spend their meager income on frivolous things while they freeze to death. Oppressed people spend money on cosmetics but neglect the cultivation of inner beauty. “Men are unreasonable who neglect important things in preference to things which give them pleasure.” (Aesop) From toilet paper to utilities and water, everything is controlled by forces outside of the oppressed community. We buy everything and produce nothing. Money in oppressed communities usually follows a one-way ticket route. Unlike a round-trip ticket that goes and comes back, money in oppressed communities leaves and is never seen again.