The Evil of Money
Guest Commentary
Cameron Hosseinian
Class of 2018
After scrolling through my Instagram’s Explore Page with monotonous efficiency, taking in the nonstop clickbait and filling my mind with nonsense, I stumbled on an image of notorious money-spending “Lord” Scott Disick. Posting picture after picture of his seemingly endless spending habits and his luxurious possessions, Mr. Disick has garnished a following of over 13 million people. Meaning millions of people are making a daily habit of looking upon such excessive wealth, indulgent lifestyle and then contrasting it with their own lives. Thousands of comments on every picture praising his wealth and wishing they had a fraction of what he has just so they can be happy. This association of excessive wealth and happiness is, to me, the most vain interpretation of life I have ever seen. This being said, I am guilty of said sentiments, the Instagram Explore Page reflects what you look at and in my case I became accustomed to looking at extraordinary displays of wealth and wondering what it would be like if I had that. Wondering whether if I had that Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe, Ferrari Italia 458 or R8, if I would be significantly happier than I am now. More often than not I find myself agreeing that this would make me happy.
Once we make this association with money leading to happiness, we find ourselves in a struggle to do whatever it takes to achieve this happiness; we begin the lifelong pursuit of money. In my eyes, the pursuit of money is possibly the most trivial thing a human can partake in but unfortunately we are all chained to this fate. In a world where seemingly every aspect of our lives is governed by the endless reach of wealth and greed, we have no choice but to participate in this cruel game of cat and mouse. We are sadly born into a world where for everyone, save those who have abandoned the material world in its entirety, money can afford some degree of happiness. For someone whose only means to provide food for themselves or for their family is by purchasing it, then it goes without being said that money leads to a certain degree of comfort and happiness in that situation. This goes for similar notions regarding shelter, water and clothing; the basic necessities of human life. Every human being should be guaranteed these things yet millions today are not and for a vast majority of these people it is because they cannot afford it. Due to this inability to purchase these things, that every living human needs, the institutions that play God by putting themselves in charge of allocating said necessities see it unfit to provide these people with what they need simply because they do not have a piece of paper saying they deserve it. How vile a thing it is to put a price before a human life. Everyday millions of people are denied the ability to drink clean water or sleep under a roof all because they cannot afford it, all because of the existence of money. We do not need money to be human. As Rousseau would say, we have lost the state of nature and the natural man. In this state a sense of money would still exist, but not by today’s definition. This form of wealth would not lead to inequality, greed, violence or despair. Instead, everything is contributed to and for the common good of yourself and the community; and in this sense it is no longer even considered money.
If this state is attainable then why would we all not strive for this, why do we choose to share in this endless cycle of convention? The reason for this, in my opinion, is because in today’s society we are taught day in and day out that the more money you have the more happy you will be. From the day we set foot in school we are taught that the end goal of our education is to find a job that will provide us with the highest income, regardless of how much you will loathe everyday of your working life. This materialistic notion is a poison to our minds and to the way we choose to live our lives. Yet, as I mentioned earlier we have no choice. I have succumbed, and still do, to the allure of money and its endless possibilities. I understand how money can be the only possible savior for those with nothing else, those who come from such backgrounds where money truly will lead to a better life. Yet, even in those situations the implication of wealth is what leads to such differing realities and inequality.
I wish it was not this way, I wish money with its blind pursuit did not control our world as it does as I wish I did not have to imagine what this enviable reality could look like.
I guess in the end, after writing this the only thing I can do is to ask of you, the reader, as you contemplate what I have said whether or not you truly need that jacket, those shoes, that car, or that house; in the end when you look back upon your life you will see that true happiness did not derive from such superficial things, true happiness will have come from the realization that money cannot in fact buy your happiness. As patronizing and as lofty as this sounds, one look around you and you will see how much money effects and impacts our lives in such a negative way.
