Hmmmmm...How can I talk about time some more, without actually talking about it...
Oooooo...I know, money! (They are the same after all)
Scared ya, didn't I. Believe me it will be a long time before it's the right time to talk about time. (Like ya haven't heard that one before, eh.)
Anywho, enough idle chit-chat, let's ask some questions!
Why is money so...moneyish?
moneyish: valuable, important, integrated, loved, powerful, almost (ironically) god-like...
Why? well the answer is an obvious one, and unsatisfying...just 'cus.
But to take it part by part:
It is valuable because it represents those things which everyone wants, with it we can get whatever we want. What I find funny is...we can do that anyway... In all honesty we can have anything we want because nothing belongs to anyone. The only way we can "possess" anything is when we have a "power" over someone. Whether that be physical or mental, strength or blackmail. basically and advanced form of the barter system, me want that you want this, we trade ,UG. The problem, If you don't give me that I won't give you this. It is a good thing that I'm not gonna throw Darwinism into the melting pot. Otherwise guy A would be dead, because the most intelligent thing guy B could do would be to remove that "power" which allows guy A to possess that which he wants (I'll leave it to you to figure out which one is A and which one is B). Therefore, guy B gets what he wants without loses something he possesses or wants. But since that's not an option, well the other way to remove the power from guy A is for guy B to not want what guy A has. A little aside here: economics states that there is a scarcity of resources and unlimited wants, and the problem is not enough to fulfill the wants. The solution, find more stuff! Or! better yet don't want anything. I know, I know, easier said than done, kinda. And when I say nothing I mean nothing. That includes life, but then again I'm being contradictory because that would also mean death too...But my real point is to exist were you are, and allow yourself necessities of life basically food and water. You really don't need clothing and you don't need a shelter. And yes, I also know that while this is nice it won't stay forever, because there will be that one guy, and it will be a guy, that loves food way too much, and wants more than anyone. This want of stuff and power is inevitable. So I finally say this the smartest thing to do is not to not want completely, but to want what others want before your own wants. ("I want you to say that again" ;).
In this it shows us why money is so important, because it is the exact opposite of this. Money is the solution where we create something, why not make it out of trees, and say it is valuable...for everyone! There! :P. That way everyone is on equal footing, when considering their wants, they want other objects and money represents these. Without it we wouldn't be as...evolved...as we are now, we wouldn't be as civilized...
And because of this it is now integrated into our society. If we get rid of it our society would collapse. The way money is headed it will eventually be in the form of computerised accreditation. So then I will really laugh because we will truly "own" a lot of nothing. At least right not we can say we "own" a piece of a tree. And when that happens we'll be right back were we started possessing something through the means of nothing, because we possess nothing. (It is true, I have only talked about objects and the things we, in a way, do truly posses are our abilities.)
However, because it is so valuable, important, and integrated is why it is like a dear sibling, and thusly, loved.
And something that is loved by most anyone, is very powerful indeed.
So I answer the question "Why is money so... Moneyish?", with: Why Indeed.
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7 comments:
y is it so moneyish? because western culture has an obsession with giving objects names and values.
"The Tao that can be explained is not the true Tao" Hence, we need not explain everything. Damn our nomenocentric culture.
though i appreciate the comment above for using eastern philosophical ideas, i'm afraid i must protest its use in this case. The value and use of an arbitrarily assigned values to objects that would not otherwise be all that valuable is primarily a western idea. since western and eastern philophies are so polarly different on so many ideals, the use of an eastern proverb to attempt to explain a western idea is more of an insult to the ideals of eastern thinking.
Not really. We are all human. Therefore principles are universal, unless they obviously apply specifically to a certain culture or society. Since the Tao is extremely general, this problem does not exist.
Principles cannot be universal. Principles change from human to human since they are inherently based on the personal experiences and beliefs of a particular person. The Tao itself was based in a set of values that was different in thinking than that of the culture that created what we are discussing here.
If principles cannot be universal, how can every society have the same basic moral code? The Ten Commandments existed in some form in every ancient culture, after all. And what is the difference between a principle and a moral?
The ten commandments are based in a system of beliefs that permeates western culture no matter how much we try to deny it. The "universal" principles you speak of are something that though they apply to almost all do not apply to every human being. Not all people follow these rules. In some cases they do not even have the choice to follow them even if they have the desire to. Some just simply have a disregard for those principles altogether. Those principles are also based in a respect for your fellow man. (and i wonder where western culture would be if its basis was not in ideals that supported this respect.) Eastern culture has a much stronger inherent base in this kind of respect for other human beings.
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