2006-01-12
Money and War Alone do not Define Humanity
'Money is the root of all evil' and 'War, what is it good for?' Two famous contemporary phrases - especially in pop culture. I'm not sure where its origins lie but I'm pretty sure baby-boomers - those from the 60s anyway - have something to do with its popularity. Noble (naive?) as they may be in their philosophical intent, they ultimately fail to explain why evil still existed during the barter system long before the invention of money. Or how war was a permanent condition among humans before the arrival of the nation-state. By extension, are wars of liberation or survival good for something? Money is just the latest scapegoat for man's imperfections and flaws to be greatly magnified. As for war, well, man is what he is.
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Money is the root of all evil because absolute power corrupts absolutely. :)
ReplyDeleteWhich is like defining a word by using the word.
But I don't agree that money is simply a scapegoat. It's the most visible aspect of power, and a sharp line in the sand between the elite and the rest of us. It not only magnifies human imperfection, it enables it.
But it's just a phrase. I hope that people turn the words around in their heads once or twice before adopting it as their own personal mantra and truth.
Besides, we all know that the true root of evil is Leona Helmsley.
Re: War. We get off on the idea of transcendence. I guess because we are aware of our situation, we believe that we should be able to overcome our condition. I haven't decided if this is true or not, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel just because I'm an animal.