ForumGarden

Why must everyone be obsessed with money? I understand that it makes the world go round, but, does it really make you happy? Some people revolve around money. Why? I am a religious person and money to me is like a symbol of a God other than our God as a people. So why do people trust in money more than they do God? For this reason are most people doomed on this planet? On every peice of money it sais "In God We Trust"

aonnde wrote: On every peice of money it sais "In God We Trust"Actually, the only coin in my pocket at the moment has "ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FD" on it, and "STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS" round the edge. "Every piece of money" is a slight exaggeration.

aonnde wrote: Why must everyone be obsessed with money? I understand that it makes the world go round, but, does it really make you happy? Some people revolve around money. Why? I am a religious person and money to me is like a symbol of a God other than our God as a people. So why do people trust in money more than they do God? For this reason are most people doomed on this planet? On every peice of money it sais "In God We Trust"
It's not really an obsession with most of us, but a necessity. It helps keep us fed, sheltered, educated, mentally and physically stimulated. I am now in the state of New Jersey, having recently flown from California to see my relatives and attend my oldest sisters 80th birthday. I am staying in a hotel for 10 days and eating meals out mostly. It takes money to do this, and I am fortunate that I can afford to do it. And yes, I am extremely happy, much more so than if I could not afford to be here right now.

It isn’t money that is the problem. It is the love of money that gets us into jams. As Lon says, money as a tool to get things done isn’t a problem.

"On every peice of money it sais "In God We Trust""

There was a group of Christians that wanted the "In God We Trust" taken off the coins. Their concern was that people who were gambling would be taking the name of God in vain.

If you have money your killing time. If your broke your loitering.

It is easy to say money is not important until your short.

Lotto

http://www.flalottomagic.net/?sponsor=Z4941

MagicZ4941A

PS I would pay good money for a nap. Going to try soon:)

I've got 5 Euro coins in my pocket OMG. I hate the EURO.:-1

I love money I love to spread it around, like manure (horse ****) it can do so much good. That's what it's for, spreading around.

namaste

Lizzie Love :-4

I've heard it said that money buys us intellectual freedom, education, security...and the luxury of discussing whether money is good or bad.

It is a tool, a very powerful tool. It's only as good or bad as the person using it.

I agree and it is also believed that money is energy, I am not sure how that works, does it mean that if you are loaded you have more energy and if you are skint you have none?

There was some equation a friend gave me once about work + something = money but I can't remember the "something". Funny subject though, my parents in law are millionaires and miserable as sin, my own mum and dad manage to get by and are as happy as fish in a pond.

Perhaps it is all relative.

Namaste

Lizzie love :-4

I believe that all of you need to think a little more on this subject. Below is the opening quote of a very long speech from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

"So you think that money is the root of all evil?... Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?"

Long time no see, AK! Glad to see you again! As for me...

I left an $80,000 a year corporate management job to become a $35,000 a year math teacher. I know for a fact that money doesn't buy happiness!

I do wish sometimes though, that my family didn't have to suffer for my happiness.

what a great choice they made to stick around with you for some time............know what you mean about that choice good that you had the courage to make the choice.

namaste

Lizzie Love:-4

Lizzie Love wrote: what a great choice they made to stick around with you for some time............know what you mean about that choice good that you had the courage to make the choice.

namaste

Lizzie Love:-4


sorry over use of word choice, what I mean is having made similar decisions myself, I know what the effects can be, (breathe) and it maybe helps our loved ones become more self-reliant............good role model J.

namaste

LL:-4

So, since no one has taken notice to my challenge then I will be more specific:

Clint wrote: It isn’t money that is the problem. It is the love of money that gets us into jams. As Lon says, money as a tool to get things done isn’t a problem.


Here is what Ayn Rand had to say about the "love of money":

"Money will always remain an effect and refuse to replace you as the cause. Money is the product of virtue, but it will not give you virtue and it will not redeem your vices. Money will not give you the unearned, neither in matter nor in spirit. Is this the root of your hatred of money?

"Or did you say it's the LOVE of money that's the root of all evil? To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is the loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money”and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it."

"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.

"Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another”their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun. "

So Clint, is the "love of money" really what you are fighting, or is it something else?

Ya know, ggmuze, I never did understand the "money is the root of all evil" view. How can an inanimate object be evil?

Money is a tool, plain and simple. There's been time in my life when I had plenty, and there's been times (like now) when a bit of extra cash would be a godsend. What can be evil about it? It enables you to be more free, in some instances, and from what I understand, huge amounts can be a real pain in the butt. But evil? Not really getting that one.

To be obsessed with it can't be good, of course, but obsession with just about anything is not really a good thing.

Maybe I'm just not following this discussion clearly. I'd be interested to hear more.

People ultimately trust what they can see, yet they do not trust what they can't see, whether it is a thought or a worshiped god. Sometimes I wish that people would realize how lucky they are just to have food and a place to sleep. What about the people who don't. I mean we all have problems but we all want them to be solved and we turn to money because baisically we all want somethings better than what we have. What people fail to realize is that if they want something tangible the pleasure will only last for so long and then they will long for something else:( These people will always be unhappy because they fail to appreciate the simple things in life. Example: A man who has no legs will wish for legs so he can run. This man really likes to run and if he had legs he would run everyday! A man who has legs does not run and wishes to sit and sit and sit. The man with legs develops heart disease and needs an operation. While he is in the hospitial he sits and wishes that he would have ran and the man with no legs is still wishing for legs.

See what I am saying is that money can buy people things and only make them happy for a certain amount of time. I wish that people would appreciate the simple things instead of the complex tangible things.

I appreciate your point of view and agree with your statement. It is the greedy ego who wants more and more and is never satisified. prof Pete Townsend did a great study on poverty and concluded that some people with very little Monetary income, but who lived in a community and had a strong sense of purpose ultimately did not regard themselves as poor, even though their income was Relatively lower than most middle class professionals. These were people who were gardeners, school diner ladies, bus drivers. like the rest of us "common people".

I have met more miserable beings here in the states, who are loaded with loot, but not a bloody clue how to , "be happy", "appreciate what you have" and have a good laugh at least 3 times a day.

The list could go on and on, but I am sure you get my drift.

The human mind errs always to the negative and it is our condition to bemoan what we do NOT have. Change that and see what happens. It is simple but not easy to be grateful for the 90% and appreciate what we have.

Poverty of the spirit is what i come across often in western society, and maybe that is the only one.

namasteLizzie love:-4

Lizzie Love wrote: It is the greedy ego who wants more and more and is never satisified.


Why in the world should we ever be just "satisfied"? What part of the human mind is that natural to? It is not natural. Man is always growing, always curious, unquenchably thirsty to find something new or some new way to think, a different way to do the same thing, yet better.

And furthermore, what is greed?

Is it the desire of a man to make as many products as possible and outsell his opponents with the lowest prices to eventually make the most money possible?

Or maybe you mean selfishness, the exact meaning of which is inetrest in self. Since you are proclaiming that people should be happy, "laugh 3 times a day" (sorry don't have the quote in front of me), do you not realize that you must have great concern for your for your own interests to achieve "a healthy, purposeful, fulfilling life?" If you do realize this then do you also realize that some kind of disregard for the others well-being is NOT an inherent trait of selfishness? There are people that contain both of these character traits, but this does not necessitate a philosophical connection, and in fact blurs a significant distinction between them. Those being that a whim and disregard for others well-being are NOT self-interest based.

An altruist framework for discussing ethics is ultimately a deadend, because the conclusion that you have come to is not based on reason.

"Earth provides enough for everyone's need ....not enough for everyone's greed"

Ghandi (I think).

You misunderstand me, and i apologize for having written so badly that I did not communicate well what I wanted to say.

I do not agree with your statement. money is an energy and like every other can be used for good or ill, depending upon who has it and how it is used.

A friend of mine once said "Life is like a sh*t sandwich...........the more bread you have the less sh*tyou have to eat".

Keep smiling:wah:

namaste

LL:-4

Lizzie Love wrote: money is an energy and like every other can be used for good or ill, depending upon who has it and how it is used.LL:-4


Take away money, or any other exchange of value for value, and there is only one way left to get the things we want, need, and create: force.

Or, in a more related term....

violence

Is that what you would rather have?

I think there is a confussion somewhere.

It is not that money makes happy, it is lack of money that can make unhappy...