Day 135: Money Is The Root Of All Evil

If money is the root of all evil, then why has it become a necessity to life?

Money is the reason we have to see our loved ones go hungry. Money is the reason we have to send our child to a school we know will not really educate them. Money is the reason we put off going to see a doctor. Money is the reason we watch someone die when we can't afford treatment. Money is the reason we cannot give our children the life we wanted for them. Money is the reason we knowingly harm ourselves because we can't afford the costly options. Money is the reason we have to sell or give away pets we can no longer afford to keep. Money is the reason for the existence of backyard breeders. Money is the reason for using inferior building materials. Money is the reason for drinking dirty water. Money is the reason factories dump toxic waste instead of disposing it safely. Money is the reason most factories exist in the first place. Money is the reason for our stomach ulcers. Money is the reason for our drinking problems. Money is the reason for living in a shack. Money is the reason for living in a cardboard box. Money is the reason for factory farming. Money is the reason for soil erosion due to agriculture. Money is the reason for the pollution from all the cars being driven to work and back. Money is the reason for manufacturers using dangerous chemicals to cut costs. Money is the reason for animal testing in the cosmetics industry. Money is the reason for the existence of animal-based competitions and sports. Money is the reason for surplus food being thrown away instead of redistributed to the hungry. Money is the reason for designed obsolescence.

When we see the problems in the world, we don't normally link money as being the cause - or if we do, we will say that there is "nothing we can do about it, it's just the way the world works". Are we not the ones who decide and direct how the world works? Are we not the dominant species on Earth? Does the fact that we are the dominant species then not imply a sense of responsibility to those whose lives we affect? If we are willing to keep billions of animals in forced slavery, without rights or a voice, all for the sake of money - does that not make us the one and only source of evil in this world? If we are the ones who created money and continue to accept its dominance over the lives of every being on Earth, does that not make us the true creators and bringers of evil?

To be fair to money, it does not have a will of its own - it is simply a tool used by us. We are the ones who have created and continue to accept and allow a system that discriminates according to money and monetary value. We are the ones who have become so innately self-important that we will turn away from the suffering of another being at the hands of a human, simply because being aware of the suffering makes us feel bad. The truth is that we have absolutely no interest in helping those who are less fortunate, as we are more concerned for our own wellbeing, physically and emotionally.

We do not want to acknowledge and admit to ourselves that the tool which allows us to live in comfort is the one thing that is forcing countless others to live in misery. We do not want to admit to ourselves that we have the ability to change the system, because that would mean changing ourselves. We are not willing to stop being the persona we have been since we were taught to be this way from infancy - this persona is all we know! If we were to suddenly stop caring so much about our personal outcomes then we may actually "lose" a part of ourselves.

If we truly cared, we would not allow things like thoughts, judgements and programming to stop us from doing everything in our power to change the system to a system that supports all life. If we truly cared, we would not turn away from another's suffering simply because it makes us feel some unpleasant emotion (guilt?) - we would use their suffering as one more piece of evidence as to why the system cannot go on the way it is going and what the cost is for allowing it to continue. If we were really serious about making a difference, we would not allow our personal preferences, prejudices, and desires to limit the scope of possibilities for a solution - we would consider and search for solutions without bias.

Consider Equal Money without bias and you may come to realize that this is a solution that can actually work to give all life on Earth the guarantee to live without being abused.

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