LESSON 5 - What really is the root of all evil?
September 7th 2006 15:17
"Money is the root of all evil" so goes the saying. I lived by this... mainly because that's what my parents told me. They said, "Don't try to get too much money, having just enough is best".
Now I was always the type of kid who took their parents' words literally. It wasn't out of fear, it was just geunine... I genuinely thought listening to their evey word, especially "words of wisdom" was the way to go.
To this day, of all the things that my parents have disappointed me with, this teaching would have to be the worst. To teach a child, in this world, not to aspire to get money - I mean it's a good thing for an adult, to tell them, don't be a slave to money, but for a kid, it just doesn't work. That one saying has shaped my view of money and it hasn't helped me one bit. It's taught me to be afraid of money, to fear losing it, to fear having it... because I thought, those things make you less of a person.
That saying above is one of my most hated sayings. It's quite idiotic in my opinion. The "root of all evil"? What really is the root of all evil? The money that's there to be used accordingly or the hand that wields the power to use that money? I mean, its not money that's "not good", it's people's perceptions, their habits, their weakensses, their abuses! Money is a necessity~ Money is a fact, a part of life that if you ignore will have dire consequences. To hate money is to try and deny the very essence of human being, I think... I mean we are selfish, self-gratifying creatures... And money is the necessary commodity to fulfill those base needs. Where's the intellect in trying to deny that?
Money doesn't ruin people, it's their faults that ruin them...
Now we all know about lottery winners, having won millions of dollars, going on interviews a year later saying that they'd wish they'd never seen the money. Now money, or should I say greed can do funny things to people... I'm not denying that... But think about every one of those regretful lottery winners. They had the potential the opportunity to make so much and do so much with that money. With a little education and advice, that money could have been well spent for generations upon generations. It only takes one generation to leave a legacy yeah?
I only realised in my recent years; the value of money and the power to wield it. I used to have a thought. I'd state to myself that I didn't need money. Money comes and goes. People drive fancy cars and have big houses, but they're not happy. So I'd rather live modestly and have "true" happiness... haha what a load of cow shit~! That's the talk you hear out of losers - people who fear failure, people who fear trying and thus ultimately, in my mind, fear life...
I did some psychology in uni and an interesting thing that I learnt was the way our brain likes to justify things. Their are certain mental process that take place to minimise negativity. Our brains and bodies are remarkably efficient. Being sad and down is ineffecient, so is the feeling of waste. So, whenever we feel these "emotions" we have mechanisms that help alleviate the negative feelings. A good real life example I had was when I went to watch a movie once with a friend. I didn't know what to watch and they'd suggested a movie - I can't remember what it was. It was boring. But at the end of the film, they came out saying, hey that was alright, pretty funny, etc. And I realised, he was compensating the feeling of regret and feeling sorry for suggesting to watch a crap film, by convincing himself that it was ok... Don't you find that happens to you? When you spend a lot of money for something, you learn to love it, you learn to appreciate it for it's value, even though in the back of your mind you know you got ripped off or you know you wasted your money~
That's what I used to do with money itself. Trying to compensate the fact that I wanted it, but thought it was worse off to have it. Thus "rationalising" that l'd be happier without it~!
Conversely, what I should have been doing, instead of wasting time by dreaming of being a multi-million dollar NBA player or celebrity and then thinking, nah I wouldn't be happy with that, money's evil~ I should have been thinking of ways to attain money, to attain wealth, thinking of what I'd like to do with the money - thinking instead of daydreaming...
I try to have that attitude now, but I honestly find it hard. Now that could just be an excuse, I'm aware of that too... Change is always hard to accept, we like comfort and familiarity~ So I try hard these days to teach myself and unteach myself about money. Money is a necessity. The more you have, the better because it limits your want~ The more want you have, the more unsatisfied you will be. Now I'm not the type to think that material possessions and wealth alone will bring you happiness... no no no no... I know all that won't mean anything to me if I don't have people I care about, someone I love to share with~ What I'm proposing is that first you need goals that involve money~ You need to think about how to get money and how much money you want. Then you want to exceed those goals. Ideally reaching those goals are good enough. But if you exceed them, then you've really suceeded~
I, like everyone else, want to be rich. I want to be as rich as I can be. Now realistically speaking, thanks to my habits and attitudes, etc, it doesn't seem like I'll be very rich at all... Because my definition of rich is someone who owns their own plane, has multiple properties worldwide, has the wealth and power to effect politics, etc. My scope of rich is big. I'm not talking about driving around in a ferrari living on the north shore~ I'd say that's "well off"... I know I'm going to get there... Well, maybe not North Shore - not too fussed about that whole area. But I will have my ferrari. I'll be well-off... I think I have made too many limitations for myself to be really rich. So I move onto the next step... Make my children rich~ Or at least provide the backdrop for them to be...
Now I'm not saying that I've given up on my search for wealth. I'm merely stating that when I strictly analyse my situation, it'd be most likely that I'll be well-off rather than rich. But I'd really like my children to achieve that goal. You may think that's an unfair imposition on my future children. But hey, that's life... Parent and off-spring relationship is all about imposition... whether you like it or not. Child's gotta learn from somewhere...
Money is not the root of all evil - hell no~! You and I are~ If indeed you can even rationalise things as "evil" - since after all, isn't "evil", just "good", in someone else's eyes???
Heh...
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
If we understand evil simply as injury or suffering, it might be that the greatest evils in the world, children starving in the streets, etc. have their roots in small things, little decisions that people take every day.
Comment by Heej
Dota Stars
I don't know... the way I've come to see it is that "evil" is just a convenient means of labelling something... All part of the dualistic thinking we're brought up with. So things are either "good" or "evil"... and personally I don't like this way of categorising "things" in life... Speaking from a "thinking too much" point of view, I don't think anything can necessarily be called "evil"... Even injury or suffering can be understood in a multitude of ways, depending on the perspective you are looking at things from... Hmmm the only thing that pops to mind right now would be if I wanted to seek severe revenge on someone and it caused them suffering. That would be a "good" thing for me because I'd want them to suffer... Some might say that's an "evil" thought, but I'd just say that's instinctive or natural, uninhibited... I mean everyone has "evil" intentions, it's just that we can't act them out because if eveyone was uninhibited, then society couldn't function~ Even with "great evils" like starving kids, or persecution, genocide, etc... I don't like to define them as "evil" I like to see it as, that's just the way things are, that's the way the world goes... That doesn't mean I don't sympathise nor do I condone such things, I mean if I was comfortable enough to, and could afford to do so, I'd do something to help out starving kids... But in the end, it's the way things are, not necessarily "evil" or "good"...
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Are you saying that we should try, as much as possible, to do without the words "good" and "evil"?
If so, I'm sympathetic to that view.
Lots to say about evil in general... but I'm trying to get clearer on what I think, so I'll just leave it at that for the time being.
Comment by Heej
Dota Stars
Hello again Adrian...
Well to answer your question - yes and no...
In terms of practicality I don't think it could ever work to do away with such an influential and "meaningful" dualism...
What I would suggest though is that what one may simple write off as "evil" or "good" be scrutinised closely to understand whether labelling something in such a way is meaningful at all~
Am interested to hear what you have to say on evil~
-Heej-
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
It's not like Bill Gates is Lex Luthor, trying to rule the world. I guess...
Comment by Heej
Dota Stars
Bill Gates evil? No Way~! hahaha - He gives so much money to charity~(??) heh~ No one with that much money can be "evil"~
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
Someone said somewhere that a rich man couldn't go to heaven and whole load of people bought it. That's poweful propaganda isn't it. But what really sits at the base of it is the power to weild fear - that kind of fear - is pure evil in my book.
Whatever happened to letting people find their own way. Exactly as you say, I do not believe people are born inately "evil", but by the time the 'system' has finished with them - no matter the paradigm, I think religion has a lot to answer for. Then again, I don't worship anger either. Ha! It's a fine line alright.
I like that you think too much, it makes me feel saner.
Lilla.