So why do some believe that money is the root of all evil? Wars have been waged in the name of money – or to protect the interests of a particular nation or state. The reasons may have been wrapped up in pretty packages to make them more palatable for the general populace. Of course, we the people are needed to support wars, because it is not politicians that face the enemy, but you and me or our husbands, brothers and sons.
As the song goes “money makes the world go round” and until someone comes up with an alternative that will enable us to earn a living, it is here to stay. So we need to think about money and what it does for us, our economy, our country and the world. How do we use money? Does what we do with our hard earned cash fund evil? Most would think that this is ridiculous. When we go into a high street store to buy something that we want, is this evil? Of course not. But, could the choices that we make when we spend our money on, or where we bank, inadvertently fund it? For example, if you bank with certain institutions, how do you know who or for what purpose they lend money. The only way is to ensure that you use a bank that has strong ethical policies. Fortunately, there is a growing concern, certainly in the United Kingdom, about food being produced ethically, banking ethically and purchasing products in the supermarket that truly benefit the growers and are produced from an ethical source.
So returning to the theme of this article, is money the root of all evil – no I believe that it is greed that is evil. If there was no greed in the world, it would be an entirely different place. We would, for example, not have corruption without greed. Greed occurs at several levels, at an individual level as well as a company or corporate level.
Perhaps, greed is what greases the wheels of the developed economies of the west? Would we end up with no or very few entrepreneurs looking to make money? This in turn would generate economic growth and fund via taxation the services that we rely on in the United Kingdom. It would also probably lead to increased employment, resulting in those people going out and buying goods and services – and so the wheel continues.
There is an alternative! Greed when motivated purely by the desire for power, wealth and for ones own benefit is perhaps, not so much evil, but not so good for the benefit of mankind. So what is the alternative? It is what we do with our money that can be either of benefit or the contrary to society. When I started to make what I call “spare money” from my home-based business – over and above that which I needed to pay the bills, I decided to use this to help others. I made a list of issues that were important to me and then investigated the best way to help them.
It is amazing how little makes a difference. Whether you believe that charity begins at home and you help charities in your own country is obviously up to the individual. I decided to do a combination of both. So I support charities based in this country as well as in the developing world.
For example, I have already given my nephew 2 goats! That is, I have bought them on his behalf and they will be going to a family in the third world. When you consider the benefit it will be for the family that gets these goats and the costs to me, it is ridiculous that so little money can make a huge difference. They will be able to use their milk to drink and to sell the surplus. When the goats have offspring, they have to give the first female back to the charity, so that it can be of benefit to more people. Any others that are born can be raised for food, or to sell. This could then enable the family to pay for schooling for their children. Such a small thing has a huge impact.
My name is Diana Worley and having started a business, started to think about money and how it is used for good or ill and how this affects our attitude to money. For a variety of articles and posts please visit my blog – http://diworley.com or my website http://www.myawesomebizonline.com.
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