MONEY: HOW IT BETRAYED US...

“The love of money is the root of all evil”...1^st Timothy 6:10 (The Holy Bible)

Evolution

Not until when the last Lydian King Alyattes, Croesus minted the first official currency in 600 B.C. out of electrum, a mixture of naturally occurring gold and silver, the entire world predominantly traded in barter. 

The norm required you to find someone who wanted what you had, and coinciding with you wanting what he had also. If you wanted an apple in exchange for a pear, you would have to find someone with a pear in need of your apple and the list went on.

In as much as barter was popularly the direct trade of goods and services, the introduction of other recognizable and acceptable items with markings on them proved to be faster and more effective.

Then money evolved, although money in itself is actually worthless, for all we know it can be a rag, stone, shell or scrap metal, money develops worth by being a vehicle of trade.

Money creates an unseen bond of understanding between people doing business with each other, going ahead to being a part of our lives for the past 3000 years.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life”…Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862). American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian.

Money makes the world go round…right?

No doubt money makes the world go round, the question we might as well ask is ‘how fast can money spin the planet?’

It’s a whole new world and this generation has yet witnessed unprecedented growth, discoveries and development that our forefathers wouldn’t have imagined in a million years, and unsurprisingly, there is no doubt that money has had a huge contribution to all of these phenomenal changes, but how rounded up by this money have we really been?

Some people are so poor, all they have is money”…Patrick Meagher (1890 – 1958) Irish Hurler, who played as a corner back for the Tipperary senior team

True Wealth

Of course we are all ardent fans of Forbes magazine because there is this thrill in reading about the wealthiest guys, coolest rich kids and all that creative money matters gossip they’ve succeeded in baiting and capturing our longing minds with, but does the publication about rich folks comfort us or does it make us green with envy, and is it really worth our while?

In as much as a school of thought admonishes us to cultivate a positive mental attitude in order to become wealthy, other sages have simply preached the quest for gratification instead. 

It of course apparently borders on the same premise on deserving the physical wealth that you have if you are a good person, and even if you don’t actually have a huge material prosperity, your anxiety will not make you desperate enough to chase money aggressively, thereby hurting your environment and ultimately yourself.

“A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money”…John Ruskin (1819 -1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era.

Contentment: What Matters

This new generation is sure missing out on all the real fun that our fathers and their fathers had in their prime time, the new age of development bearing expensive gadgets and the constant crave to travel and conquer the world is driving us insane.

Our pursuit for knowledge and consequently money has birthed monsters of us than we can barely handle.

Our perpetual desire for material things that aren’t exactly within reach and borne of vanity is turning us against each other, and now war has broken out for the most senseless things.

Have you considered why folks in the villages live longer and healthier lives? Well, parts of the reasons I know is that it is because they are contented with the simple and little things of life, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be ambitious, but maybe we should try to be in touch with our roots and history to understand how our fathers fared and were happy when there was no money.

 “You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy”…Garth Brooks (1962 - ) American singer and song writer.

Blind Servitude

I’ve heard of folks that worked all their lives and yet didn’t live to spend and enjoy the wealth they painstakingly amassed. I have also met a few people that life started to have meaning to them only when they had near death experiences, then they started to give off their time, treasures and talents freely especially to the needy, this is because you have not really lived until you give a part of yourself away for free.

A good example is Bill Gates and Warren Buffet giving off huge chunks of their wealth, not because they are the nicest people, but they simply feel more alive when their money helps solve problems around the world especially of the less privileged people.

“Money is in some respects life’s fire; It is a very excellent servant but a terrible master”…P.T. Barnum (1810 -1891) American politician, showman and businessman.

The Best things are actually free

Who doesn’t like fast cars, Inspector gadget stuffs, an overpriced beach house and money that will fill up a whole room? But guess what, they all come at a price. 

We are so busy chasing all of these material accumulations that we forget that we already have it all.

Do you believe that in this same planet earth that we currently are fortunate enough to be alive to be living in, there are people in hospitals that cannot breathe, eat or use the bathroom on their own?

This reminds us that we have to be thankful for the sun that shines, the moon that mildly illuminates our nights, the air we breathe, the love that abounds in our families, and even the butterfly that gently caresses our head in the shaded garden, nothing comes close to these heavenly luxuries, and surprisingly they are free, and not all of us have been able to be calm enough to notice and appreciate them.

“Happy is harder than money. Anyone who thinks money will make you happy hasn’t got money”…David Geffen (1943 - ) American business magnate.

Don’t worry, be happy

I know, this is the hardest part, how can I be happy when there are countless troubles circling all around me? Well, this reminds me of a story I read online sometime ago.

There was this pregnant Antelope whose water had apparently broken, being chased in the forest by a hunter on one dark and rainy night. Unfortunately for the antelope, while fleeing the hunter, then she met with a vicious Lion a few yards away growling towards it. 

Looking back at the opposite side of the forest, there stood the hunter with a gun pointed at the antelope. In that situation what would you do if you were the antelope? Well, here’s where it gets interesting.

The antelope concentrated on delivering its baby, then unexpectedly as the Lion was about to pounce on its prey and while the hunter aimed a perfect shot at the antelope, oblivious of the Lion, just in the nick of time, lightning struck, partially blinding the hunters view, he missed his target as he momentarily fired a shot, the bullet narrowly missed the antelope and pierced through the Lion’s head, killing it, while the antelope carried off her young.

My point? In as much as danger is real, fear is a choice, so we have to cautiously choose not to be afraid, having genuine faith in God that its all good.

And also we don't have to worry about our quest for material things and our lack of financial wisdom and intelligence, and how it is rubbing off on our kids, but we have to pro-actively do something about it before the entire world gets mortgaged for future scraps.

Thank you, and be awesome.

Akin Abimbola.

(akinzogee@yahoo.com, akinzogee@gmail.com)

Twitter: @akinzogee

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Sources: Brainy Quote, Google, Good reads, Investopedia, The Holy Bible, Wikipedia

This article is an original piece, reasonably researched and contains considerable opinion and a unique style of the author.

The names in actual stories are not real and the stories in this write-up are usually fictional, consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for quotes and news that are typically referenced.