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Tanzi Gill

UnderGraduate - BBA,

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Is "Money" actually root of all evil?

People usually have this belief that money has destroyed societies and mankind. And therefore it the root of all evil. I disagree because its not the money but the person who uses it. There are rich people who are doing a lot for their communities. And lets just say even if we get rid of all the money, I am sure human beings will find something else to use in order to get what they want? Its the character and the attitude that encourages a man to do what he does with his money and not the other way round.

I personally believe we should stop blaming things that we ourselves have given value to. Would love to hear your views on it.

Topics: Breakdown of Society money no money society
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  • Timothy Sumpter

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    Nov 1 2011: How about pride?
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    Bill Burns

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    Oct 30 2011: I agree with Stefan below. Ignorance is the root of all evil and fear is its agent. Money is neither good nor bad. It is one form of energy. Money sure can be good but it sure can be put to poor use as well.
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    Terry Freeman

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    Oct 29 2011: Money is just a common measure of transactional value. Like any system of measure it is neither good nor evil.
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      Tanzi Gill

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      Oct 30 2011: yeah but sadly since money itself can't speak up..many ignorant types will continue to focus their energy to fix the symptoms instead of the real problem.
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    Salim Solaiman 50+

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    Oct 29 2011: "NO" is the answer to the main question.
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    Clark Ho

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    Oct 29 2011: Money is not, the greed from people is...... Money is just a instrument of greed
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    Steven Dilloway

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    Oct 28 2011: Yes it is.

    If money is the root, I want the whole damn tree.

    Although, some may argue 'human emotion'
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      James Turner 10+

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      Oct 28 2011: I will protect your virtue and health just send all the money to me and make me emperor of the world. I promise not to do anything at all. LOL
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        Steven Dilloway

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        Oct 28 2011: Your words are convincing. However, your profile pic i not.
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          James Turner 10+

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          Oct 29 2011: Bummer that is the mare that I am getting a foal from next summer. Oh well forget the Picture just TRUST ME with all the money, really, no kidding, would I lie to you? ROFL
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        Steven Dilloway

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        Oct 29 2011: Calling a horse a mare is like calling a dog a btch

        also, i don't have n e moneyz to give james.... sorry
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    lynn eschbach 30+

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    Oct 28 2011: The root of all that's wrong, not necessarily evil, is narcisism (how in the heck does one spell that word!).
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      James Turner 10+

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      Oct 28 2011: (how in the heck does one spell that word!).
      Very very carefully so you do not spray someone and add in lots of c's and s's just for fun throw in an N and maybe and I to see how they look. LOL

      • Carol A.

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        Oct 29 2011: Hahah!! ROFLOL!!
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      Adriaan Braam 20+

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      Oct 31 2011: Alternatives my WordPerfect gives for Narcissism are
      Conceit, Egomania, Self-love, Vainglory, Vanity, Arrogance, Bragging, Egotism, Pride, Ego

      And this might be helpful for typing on the internet as well.. download ieSpell from www.iespell.com When installed, right click the text you typed and one of the options is 'check spelling',
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    Adriaan Braam 20+

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    Oct 28 2011: The root of all evil is the love of self.

    The love of self makes us use anything we can lay our hands on to make things better for us. Be it a gun or money, neither, by themselves can be 'evil' because evil is in the thought and will, and they have neither.

    Can animals be regarded as evil?? I don't think so because they don't have a choice. A lion will kill to eat, not because he/she hates this or that, and they don't have a choice. Just like a demented person, if there is no choice, that person is not seen as accountable, or evil.

    So we can make the choice, be good or evil (most of the time :)
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      Tanzi Gill

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      Oct 28 2011: I like how u think Adriaan. Human beings have a choice unlike other creatures in thsi planet. And we need to make better choices however that can only be made by change of attitude and not by blaming irrelevant things.
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      Phillip McKay

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      Oct 31 2011: Geee Adriaan, I have real concerns with your reasoning. Do you not love yourself? Why Not? Are you not a good person? Good enough to love. The love of ourselves does not make us use anything we can lay our hands on to make things better for ourselves. Animals dont have a choice? What is this talk? You must be religious. - The cause of so much irrationality. A human will and does kill to eat. A human will also kill to survive. Problem is many humans are trapped in survival mode. demented does that come from the word Demon? By jingggies!!!! The root of all evil is not the love of self Adriaan. I have worked with people who some might claim to be evil and i can tell you these are people who do not love themselves. Far from it.
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        Adriaan Braam 20+

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        Oct 31 2011: Hi Phillip, we do seem to be on opposite ends in how we see life. First of all, I see humans as spirits in a body, not much different than a driver in a car. When we can’t see very well we may need glasses, and in a car we may need to put the wipers on, etc.
        I see loving yourself as ‘putting yourself first’ and everyone else as second. We should only look after ourselves so we can look after others. I believe in the quote: “We are born not for he sake of ourselves but for the sake of others.” Swedenborg.

        I appreciate being able to help others, but I do not love myself for doing it. For several reasons. One is that there is only one that is good, and that is God. Anything that is good in this world has God in it, that is where goodness comes from. I am not good and should not get the merit for doing good, other than that I’m a conduit of His goodness.
        Just as life itself is not ours, we are only receptacles of life.

        “Animals dont have a choice?” No, not between what is good or evil. That’s why you will not see one in jail. A lion cannot decide to become vegetarian, to love sheep, pretending to love or hate something. The way animals are born that’s the way they are.

        “A human will and does kill to eat. A human will also kill to survive.” absolutely, but a human will also kill for no other reason than revenge or hate or to get his/her way or disagreement. Animals can’t do that.

        Your last note seems to say, ‘there are only two options, either you love yourselves or you hate yourselves.’ which is totally wrong. We can love what we do and how well we do something, but not see ourselves as the source of the good we do. Which does in no way mean hating yourselves.
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    Monique Potrzeba

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    Oct 28 2011: sometimes it is if you use it the wrong way
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    James Turner 10+

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    Oct 28 2011: I believe that the correct quote is that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money itself is neutral and way more convenient than carrying gold, silver, a cow, or goat. The love of it is what causes some of the evil. It is a very complex question and books have been written on it. Evil can be seen on a range as missing the goal of being the best a person can be to being a mass murderer or a dictator. It is a range of behavior that is filled with events that demean, destroy, devalue people. Anything that adds to that process is evil. Money, gold etc are just points of faith and belief that the paper or coin I use to purchase goods and services has value that we all agree upon.

  • Shane Linden

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    Oct 28 2011: I think to find the root of all evil in relationship to money we must find out why people are willing to kill and maim for it. Money does a lot of things. It allows you to be within an arm's reach of almost anything. It comes with tremendous power that can harm or help. I don't think money is the cause of evil, but rather the enabler of it.
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    Duncan Mabona

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    Oct 28 2011: I agree with Carol, it is not money that is a problem, it is the love of money by some people that is a problem.
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    Jay Chatterjee

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    Oct 28 2011: Once Ex-British PM Tony Blair said something like this, “money was invented to quantify happiness in ancient time but now even economists have forgotten the basic objective and we all are busy in measuring and maximizing money and most of the time it translate into sacrificing happiness”. Back in 1999, the same Tony Blair wrote about achieving "a better quality of life", adding: "Money isn't everything. But in the past governments have seemed to forget this".
    It was published in a excellent series of articles in BBC on "happiness". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/4809828.stm

    Money itself is not the problem, but its use and consequences are. It also can be very addictive (more than drugs and alcohol) and that is more dangerous to the person and also to the society as a whole.
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      Krisztián Pintér 200+

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      TED Translator
      Oct 28 2011: tony blair said such a silly thing? my god. and he was prime minister.
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        Jay Chatterjee

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        Oct 28 2011: Probably that's why he was the PM :) Very few people can perceive and say such a thing.
        Tony Blair's statement also nicely fit with our previous discussion on problems of GDP based model of "development".
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        James Turner 10+

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        Oct 28 2011: Maybe Tony should have said " Money isn't everything but it is so far ahead of what is second that you cannot see the second place without a telescope"
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    Phillip McKay

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    Oct 28 2011: Actually I want pain to be at the root of all evil. Problem is i dont believe in evil. What does it mean? If there is no evil then we simply have a serious mental health issue.
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      anthony bruni 30+

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      Oct 28 2011: agreed. If anything binary thinking is the root of all evil. I would not use a mental health paradigm so much as say too many people are operating at a low level of consciousness which makes them make poor choices, which collectively brings us all down.
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    Phillip McKay

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    Oct 28 2011: No money is not at the root. Greed as they say is at the root of all evil. Mind you i am greedy for life and I'm not at all sorry.

  • Carol A.

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    Oct 28 2011: NO. Just the love of it.

  • Bob Shingles 10+

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    Oct 28 2011: Could ignorance or fear be the root of all evil?
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      Adriaan Braam 20+

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      Oct 31 2011: If the judge is convinced we did something out of ignorance, we'll be let go.
      If we killed someone out of fear for our own life, same thing.

      So what is evil?? Are they certain words and actions, especially those forbidden in the second table of the Decalogue? But these are only the outer forms in which evil expresses itself.
      Evil, regarded in itself, is disjunction from good and disunion from God, because He is Good itself. It is the desire to be led by self and not by the Lord, so the word evil seems to say 'missing the target, or point'.

      It is also believed that evil is not just the absence of good, as cold is the absence of heat; they are opposites.
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