Most individuals on earth live in societies where capitalism has been established as an ideology, and without casting a shadow of doubt, money plays the utmost important part in capitalist communities. The Harvard University professor Michael Sandel in charge of teaching philosophy has once brought a topic which has been debatable in the US society: “what money can’t buy.” Indeed, such an inquiry, which does not seem to have a definite answer, has been pondering the audience, and for him, the answer has been undoubtedly crystal clear: money can buy everything. It would be controversial to apply the answer in every aspect of life since some public might disagree with his thesis statement. That is not the point of this article either. Instead, in this article, the public might be aware of several crucial properties of money in the current era. This article is about to present common characteristics of money and implies how one should utilize such characteristics to make his or her life better and reasonable.
Principle 1: money indicates forms of bills and coins. In the past when there was a barter system, people just had to exchange certain goods with certain items. However, such a trade is no longer applicable in modern generations. This can be classified as a narrow definition of money. That is, as capitalism based national governments have declared, money is the form or means to purchase any goods or services, and such money can be defined as bills, checks, or coins. Sure enough, there might be counter-examples with this idea, but one cannot deny the fact the forms of bills and coins are considered “money” in the current society.
Principle 2: money can be considered justifiable so long as it remains as a means, not an end. One of the most renowned Greek philosophers Aristotle made a dissertation that the sole purpose of living as human beings is the same: humans desire for acquiring the ultimate end Euphoria, happiness. One should sophisticatedly take this concept into consideration in order to maximize his or her happiness. Money has better be regarded as a means, but if not, lives of precious individuals might be ruined. In other words, there would be so numerous things that can hurt one’s ego, feeling, career, or dreams if he or she considers money as an end. The illustration of this idea can be expanded simply. Suppose you want to be one of the biggest successors in the 21st century. In circumstances where you only care about money making and its repercussions, you might easily get tired, possibly thinking about retiring or quitting your job soon. On the other hand, if you consistently seek something which can make you feel fulfilled, the outcome of your performances will be great, and its ramifications will be huge: in fact, you will find yourself who has already been a successful person.
Principle 3: close relationships or friendships run toward the demise, especially when money gets involved among people. Unfortunately, it is a fact that a relationship, which seems unbreakable no matter how negative events might occur, can suddenly be broken if an involvement of money frequently happens. With the same matter, money has a devastating impact on human beings, making some innocent be villains of all generations. It is better for one to think “I am just going to donate my money to help you and to invest for your prospective future, and I am not lending.” To put an emphasis on this statement, it would invariably be better for one to consider lending money as helping someone out, and the money he or she has lended will not be returnable. That is the critical reason why one has to think about a specific amount of lending money in addition to the factor that his or her life will not be affected although he or she loses this much amount of money.
Principle 4: money must be circulated, and in a capitalist society, everyone can be a successful person. Beware of the following: there is no set limited prerequisite or amount of money that you can earn in a capitalist society. What is more, there is no limitation on providing money. It is not true that you will earn a relatively small quantity of income because someone else is making a lot. Such a seemingly considered common-sense is completely wrong and distorted. People can have unlimited access to enhancing their incomes regardless of someone making a huge amount of money because this is the bright aspect of capitalism. Your underlying potential to earn profits will not be restrained at all. The amount of money is insurmountable, and as the money gets circulated in a national economy, I, my friends, and people around me will obtain more profits since every business and activity are possibly interdependent.