Use Things and Love People

[Keith Broaders]

The world is filled with far too many individuals who covet wealth, power and prestige and will do whatever is necessary to accumulate what they want.

We have become obsessed with acquiring wealth and power and have forgotten that true happiness comes from our relationships with other human beings. When we seek to satisfy our lust for wealth and power at the expense of others, we lose track of what is really important.

Peace, prosperity and freedom cannot exist in a world where everyone is competing for a larger slice of the pie. Because we have accepted the premise that there is only a limited supply of wealth and in order to get our fair share we must compete with each other. The idea that we must exploit others or be exploited is the premise promotes greed and debt slavery.

The truth is that there are an almost unlimited number of resources available to produce a vast abundance of wealth for everyone. The problem is that the financial elite who control the monetary systems in virtually every nation are determined to control all of the world's resources including it's people.

[Andrew James Maggard]

I much prefer Ayn Rand's definition of money as it is described in Atlas Shrugged when the character of the South American play boy, geologist, miner spoke directly to that of money. As but a tool between civilized men. It is not money that is the root of all evil but instead it is the love of money. Money itself is a tool and the one suited for achievement between men, it is either that or stones, swords or something else. While I must refresh my memory on this brilliant bit of philosophy espoused so well by Ayn Rand, I believe it is one of the best dissertations thus far ever offered to the virtue of money in the affairs of men. I wrote of the fallacy of those that worship at the alter of "paper" money previously, for if money ceases to become a store of wealth and of an exchange of that wealth between men then it is no longer a virtue of the value of the work of men but instead something that represents a fiat by government of its questionable worth. It is not money but currency instead, trust the value of that which has held value to mankind since it was dug out of the earth and refined as gold. Contrary to the popular current perception, Gold, Silver are not the 3500 year old relics but instead represent the virtue of money, as a store of value.

[Andrew James Maggard]

Well said Mr. Broaders, recall the premise of Atlas shrugged and the corruption that inspired the alternatives to the then markets and commerce.  This work of fiction depicted so well the virtue of accomplishment of the exercise of producing a goods or service that enhances the lives of others. let us take the example in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged by two of the leading characters, Dabney and Reardon.  Each having contributed through real accomplishment. While the examples of unethical wealth accumulation are clearly evident in this timeless tale, it is those examples accomplished through the virtue of talent and effort that we admire. Virtue being the prerequisite for an honorable life's accomplishment.