I could perhaps have chosen to consign commercialism, capitalism or that damned despised economy - that filter through which sheer stupidity appears at times to be the wisest choice on Earth - but have decided with mine own degree of wisdom not to pick off specks in dribs and drabs, but to throw the whole rotten thing out at once, to strike at the root cause of these three wonders, the thing that seems to necessitate their existence: money.

I waste no apologies for my unloving feelings towards money. At its simplest, it presents to some a seemingly insurmountable barrier to clear thinking, to endeavour, to innovation - 'Considerations have to be made, my son' said the toff in the white mess jacket and spectacles, 'Had we all the money in the world, perhaps this idea could change the lives of many; but, alas! we have not. Thus, we must be satisfied with changing only ours. It is regrettable, but it must be so,' the fucker said, with growing relish. And in that same thought he brings to mind the most serious consequence of money: viz. the damned inequality between the haves and the have-nots that must inevitably arise in such a structuring of society around money. There is the simple argument that there is only so much money in the world, thus it would not be possible for everyone to have the same amount, and inequality is a regrettable necessity for the furtherance of the world as a whole. I wholly disagree with this.

I say, if something can be done, then it can be done. Money is an unnecessary for the accomplishment of such tasks. It is true that money is now needed to pay for houses, to pay for gas, electricity and water, and to buy our food; but is it true that our houses, our utilities or our food would cease to exist with the demise of money? Of course not. Particularly with food, for example, provided a person has the requisite knowledge, (s)he can grow, nurture and pick food to live on through all their life. This requires that space be available, and the question of housing relies on the same. The deliverance of our utilities - electricity, gas and water - will necessarily involve a large-scale operation that cannot be handled by individuals, but must be provided for us. However, again, since it can be done now, it isn't the case that were money not to exist, the electricity, gas or water would no longer flow. I would say that society would merely need to be structured differently, in order that such large-scale operations would be carried out fluently and without fuss.

And, for the development and happiness of the world, it seems that such a change is required. Inherently, money breeds mistrust, it breeds jealousy, it breeds greed. One driven by money is never satisfied. Of course, the yearning for money is basically a yearning for possessions, and despite their protestations to the contrary it can be seen that their insatiable appetite for 'things' is never satisfied, with the last thing they bought being quickly superseded by a new thing, which in turn is quickly superseded by yet another, while the first is long forgotten and never thought of again. Transience, too, is another product of this sort of attitude, and if we take into account the health of the world, would it be beneficial to have a population incapable of consistent thinking, which only thinks of the here and now, and which barely remembers the thoughts or yearns of a week ago, and which will thus have little thought for the future of the world?

I would just hope that I've made a strong enough case to at least get this into room 101, if not to change the thoughts of those currently deemed wisest in the world. Many more have contributed to the argument, and I will doubtless do so again.

Word of the Week

Money

money n. 1 a a current medium of exchange in the form of coins and banknotes. b a particular form of this (silver money). 2 (pl. -eyes or -ies) (in pl.) sums of money. 3 a wealth; property viewed as convertible into money. b wealth as giving power or influence (money speaks). c a rich person or family (has married into money). 4 a money as a resource (time is money). b profit, remuneration (in it for the money).

Definition courtesy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary