Just wanted to post a little something about money and it's nature...in case you were interested.
"By possessing the property of buying everything, by possessing the property of appropriating all objects, money is thus the object of eminent possession. The universality of its property is the omnipotence of its being. It therefore functions as the almighty being. Money is the pimp between man's need and the object, between his life and his means of life. But that which mediates my life for me also mediates the existence of other people for me. For me it is the other person...
"That which is for me through the medium of money - that for which I can pay (i.e., which money can buy) - that am I, the possessor of the money. The extent of the power of money is the extent of my power. Money's properties are my properties and essential powers - the properties and powers of its possessor. Thus, what I am and am capable of is by no means determined by my individuality. I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women. Therefore I am not ugly, for the effect of ugliness - its deterrent power - is nullified by money. I, in my character as an individual, am lame, but money furnishes me with twenty-four feet. Therefore I am not lame. I am bad, dishonest, unscrupulous, stupid; but money is honoured, and therefore so is its possessor. Money is the supreme good, therefore its possessor is good. Money, besides, saves me the trouble of being dishonest: I am therefore presumed to be honest. I am stupid, but money is the real mind of all things and how then should its possessor be stupid? Besides, he can buy talented people for himself, and is he who has power over the talented not more talented than the talented? Do not I, who thanks to money am capable of all that the human heart longs for, possess all human capacities? Does not my money therefore transform all my incapabilities into their contrary?...
"That which I am unable to do as a man, and of which therefore all my individual essential posers are incapable, I am able to do by means of money. Money thus turns each of these powers into something which in itself it is not -- turns it, that is, into its contrary" (EMPHASIS MINE)
-Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Though I don't agree with much of what has occurred with Marx over the years (ie. communism), I feel that he hit the nail on the head when it came to the role that money has come to play in our lives. Too many people are obsessed with money, and in so doing have become blind to the differences between real good and artificial "paid for" good. In our society, we have made up our minds that we should avoid truth, instead substituting it with the illusions of granduer that money provides. I am not a rich man, nor would I want to be...because even though I am aware of the effects of money-goggles, I don't think that I could avoid the temptation of putting them on and losing myself in the process.
"By possessing the property of buying everything, by possessing the property of appropriating all objects, money is thus the object of eminent possession. The universality of its property is the omnipotence of its being. It therefore functions as the almighty being. Money is the pimp between man's need and the object, between his life and his means of life. But that which mediates my life for me also mediates the existence of other people for me. For me it is the other person...
"That which is for me through the medium of money - that for which I can pay (i.e., which money can buy) - that am I, the possessor of the money. The extent of the power of money is the extent of my power. Money's properties are my properties and essential powers - the properties and powers of its possessor. Thus, what I am and am capable of is by no means determined by my individuality. I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women. Therefore I am not ugly, for the effect of ugliness - its deterrent power - is nullified by money. I, in my character as an individual, am lame, but money furnishes me with twenty-four feet. Therefore I am not lame. I am bad, dishonest, unscrupulous, stupid; but money is honoured, and therefore so is its possessor. Money is the supreme good, therefore its possessor is good. Money, besides, saves me the trouble of being dishonest: I am therefore presumed to be honest. I am stupid, but money is the real mind of all things and how then should its possessor be stupid? Besides, he can buy talented people for himself, and is he who has power over the talented not more talented than the talented? Do not I, who thanks to money am capable of all that the human heart longs for, possess all human capacities? Does not my money therefore transform all my incapabilities into their contrary?...
"That which I am unable to do as a man, and of which therefore all my individual essential posers are incapable, I am able to do by means of money. Money thus turns each of these powers into something which in itself it is not -- turns it, that is, into its contrary" (EMPHASIS MINE)
-Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Though I don't agree with much of what has occurred with Marx over the years (ie. communism), I feel that he hit the nail on the head when it came to the role that money has come to play in our lives. Too many people are obsessed with money, and in so doing have become blind to the differences between real good and artificial "paid for" good. In our society, we have made up our minds that we should avoid truth, instead substituting it with the illusions of granduer that money provides. I am not a rich man, nor would I want to be...because even though I am aware of the effects of money-goggles, I don't think that I could avoid the temptation of putting them on and losing myself in the process.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home