A little Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good - YouTube

Lack of money is the root of all evil.

It's certainly the root of a lot of misery.

"Anyone who says money is the root of all evil doesn't fooking have any."

Money is the root of no evil.

Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)

That is a fantastic quote. Thanks.

it would be nice to live in a world where people spent more time helping build others up rather than tearing them down.

I agree 100% but in general people are not like that.

I've seen it so many times. Someone tears into someone else and then you see a look of satisfaction on their face.
It's like pure joy. We are a weird species.

One thing I've discovered about money, life, and the relationship I have w/myself - I've tried life with & I've tried it without, I'd rather have it.
To me, money has always been a tool. All my working life I would now/then dread what I was doing and would fantasize about never being obligated again. I remember having my 1st $50k slush fund and thinking, "Could I retire on this money?" (Long time ago, obviously) Having money meant not having to work.
.
I tried transforming my view of work - work was doing something I didn't like doing. I found a way to have fun making money such that I began to "use" it - namely, to throw money at problems to make them go away.
That, to me, is what money is good for.
Bottom line, I'm a comfort-seeker and I have used money to facilitate that.
.
Sorry for going on.

Either in general they ARE like that, or I choose the right folks to hang out with.

I know. I hate people like that. It's what makes PARF such a cesspool.

I have most of the of the toys I've really ever wanted. To me money equals freedom and security. I don't mind working for the man, taking orders and having someone in charge of a lot of my time. It affords me a good lifestyle. But I'd like to know that I can retire someday or that, if I were to lose this job, I'd be able to take as long as necessary to find a good replacement job. I am definitely not in that kind of financial shape. But if I were to inherit a lot of money, that's what it would go toward - retirement and cash cushion - not consumer spending and decadent living.

i would love to inherit a farm!! but only for the deer hunting..not the farming part. :D

but with the lack of farmers in my family, not gonna happen.

Careful what you wish for. A dear friend's father died and left him his 100 acre dairy farm in western NJ in the late 80's. My friend made his living teaching guitar for $30 per half hour and gigging with a band at night. He got a $900k tax bill for his inheritance and his dad had sold the develoment rights to the gov't. many years prior. So it could only remain a farm and not be sold to developers. During his dad's long illness the farm pretty much fell apart, equipment aged, employees left and there was nothing to produce the kind of farm income required to even make a dent in that tax bill. I don't remember how they solved it, but he now produces just enough hay per year to keep his farm status and not owe NJ-style property taxes to the county every year. It's a gorgeous piece of land, but it's a financial nightmare for someone.

So you think that money is the root of all evil? . . . Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?

When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. It is not the moochers or the looters who give value to money. Not an ocean of tears nor all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor—your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money. Is this what you consider evil?

Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions—and you’ll learn that man’s mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.

But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man’s capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made—before it can be looted or mooched—made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can’t consume more than he has produced.

Money — Ayn*Rand Lexicon

Trying to attack that philosophy/argument is the very point behind "You didn't build that." Just like they tried in the book.

There are lots of small people in this world who feel that if someone else has something it somehow takes away from them. it's just petty envy and jealousy.
Inheriting money should be a source of pride knowing that your parents or relatives were sucessful and responsible.

My parents are relatively wealthy.
They weren't always that way but they ended up well off from a life-time of hard work, sacrifice, and responsibility.
I'm named as the executor of their will and I am dreading that task.
I'd prefer it if they spent every last penny before they die so I don't have to deal with sister's in-law fighting over something they have no claim to.

This is exactly my situation too. My folks will continue to live conservatively, however, because they're now watching my grandmother begin to dip into her investment principal at the age of 92. She has plenty to last her, but if she goes to 102, it's gonna be tough. Meanwhile, my mom and her sister are constantly discussing how they get to split what's left when their mom passes. I don't want to ever have to deal with this sheet. I keep telling my mom that her mom's $$ is hers to spend however she wants and she (my mom) will inherit what's left. Why plan on getting some windfall and then being disappointed because she lived to 100 and enjoyed every last cent?

and the sad / tragic part of all this is that many of our parents worked their asses off in order to "leave something to the kids" - unwittingly corrupting the kids and providing an atmosphere of entitlement.

I'll take a brief minute to bash the 'entitled crowd' of the 20-30's age range who seem to think they are doing us all a favor by just showing up a work, even if they are an hour or so late and spend their days facebooking and texting their buddies. good grief! The worst of these are the one's whose parents have money, and presumably it will flow to them at some point.

interesting post - great discussion!

td

Here's anuther 2 cents:
I don't think money corrupts or causes bad behavior. I think it just makes it more apparent.
Character flaws are exaggerated and magnified by money and power, but the flaws exist with or without the money.

that's why some folks can be wealthy and some can't. Some people just can't handle it.

There's a saying that goes something like this: make a rich man poor and he'll end up rich again. Make a poor man rich and he'll blow it all.

Then again there's always the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Having lots of money can be evil if you don't use it right.

Better to inherit the farm then to " Buy" it.

"Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? "

This illustrates the difference between "Love of money is the root of all evil" and "money is the root of all evil." Insert the word "hoarded" in place of "made" and you get a better sense of the real world.

EX: A guy kills his girlfriend because she left him ...how does the love of money factor in?

So this whole argument is pointless because both statements are not true.
Lets just all agree that : money is the root of SOME evil.