When Money Becomes Everything, People Become Chattel and Slaves

by
Frank A. Jones
_________

I have cited this event once before in a column I wrote, but it bears citing again: a medical doctor friend of mine, whom I had not seen for some time, asked me what I was doing nowadays. I ran down a litany of projects and program activities and things of worth to not only me but also to the community--things I feel proud of being a part of and involved in. But after hearing that list, which I think is quite impressive and socially progressive, he asked: "Are you making any more?"

That question suggested major assumptions about his values. But more than that, it suggested certain beliefs and current American values vulgarly trumpeted around the world. There is a belief, almost a religion in America that is quickly growing throughout the world, and it is this: to be living a worthwhile life, to be of worth and regard to anyone, to be of social significance, a person must be one of financial substance. Crudely said, he/she must have money.

In this US dominated world, all things have become computed in terms of dollars and cents, and if there are no dollars and cents, there is no sense to it according to the American imagination. For Americans, life is having things and doing things; indeed, these are the ingredients of an American defined happiness. And to have or to do in America requires money. In spite of the impressive nature of what I am doing, this old friend of mine implied by his question that those things were of no real importance, and I was of no real substance unless I was making money.

This is the American imagination of life as normal and life that is of substance. One who makes money is one who has power and things; or at least power to buy things. The ability to buy things in America is the primary ingredient for happiness. This notion of how to be happy in life is being churned out to the rest of the world as quickly as American media can get it out. An insecure and uncertain America wants to mint a world view that is reflective of itself--a society where money is the sine qua non of all things.

This ideal that money is the very substance of one's purpose for being in life is sold to billions around the world for a very definite reason. Since America is the richest nation, we possess more money than others, and the ideal that money is the be all and end all of life means that we are the model that the world is to emulate. Furthermore, if having money is all the values you need to be happy, to be respected, to be of substance, then money can control a person and fashion that person into any form or behavior.

Since the concept of having money is of such importance in this society, what one does to get it has been relegated to unimportance. Regardless of what one does to get his money, it is no longer important to those who idolize wealth. The unimportance of how one gets his/her wealth, and the redefinition of life and happiness as having money are a major causative factor for much of the fraud, criminality, thievery, and avaricious behavior commonly displayed in this nation with such unabashed vulgarity.

Since Americans do not care how a person gets the money he/she possesses, miscreants, unscrupulous men/women, con artists, and all types of wild west, laissez faire entrepreneurs have proliferated like wild flowers after a heavy rain. From every possible angle conceivable, they rise: from the pulpits to the president's men, money is their muse, and they marshal themselves to that cause. In a society where the essence of being is possessing money, an individual will do anything, without any regard for the ethics or morality of his/her actions for money. These type of people assume that once money is acquired, the past is forgotten and they are born again into a new world of things/artifacts. That is the American dream being propagated by force of military in some parts and by massive American media at home and in some parts abroad.

As a result of these gestalts in the American imagination, massive corporate, political, religious, athletic, etc., fraud has been unleashed as pollen spores carried by the wind to the American people and the world. Many in positions where they may profit financially are doing so without hesitation or regard for the ethical or moral concerns of such profiteering. 

In many churches, ministers are making merchandise of God's people; in government, politicians and bureaucrats are profiting by their positions if it means destroying the country; and wherever there is money and men can sell their influence or position, they are doing so without hesitation. The value of all is money and the things that money can buy.

But if money is everything, as it now seems to be in the America, those with the most money become the owners of men, and men become mere chattel; those men without money but desiring to acquire it will do anything for it since it is so highly valued. This money is everything paradigm becomes a model for human domination and subjugation of others, as others hope to secure money that they too may move to their privileged position in the sun.

In the course of human endeavor, there must be more than money to motivate human venture; men of wisdom have always known that the love of money is the root of all evil. Once that root is planted in human soil, all other evils will grow from it. And since in this nation that love of money notion has been planted, men whose very professions are supposed to be lived on a more noble note have now forsaken true values and opted for the money value, as my friend's question to me implied: "Are you making any money?"

If money is the value that surpasses and obliterates all others, then the richest nations and people dominate the poor nations and people, who are trapped in the money is everything paradigm. And that is a desirable, albeit amoral and possibly immoral, condition for those who possess money. The possessors become the slaveholders and those without are mere slaves to them. Those of wealth will always try to persuade others of the importance of abundant wealth above all things. That is a value that will keep them on the high ground in perpetuity, and they will be viewed as people of substance, regardless of how that wealth has been acquired. That notion, because it is in vogue in this nation, has bred a vulgarity in too many.

To break this cycle that is more vicious and deadly than most imagine, we need to question the bona fides of one's wealth; second, we need to demand an accounting of what is being done with that wealth. And based on the answers received from those queries, we then can, as we should, apportion respect and/or esteem accordingly. As long as we allow any person with money access to polite society and the company of truly moral men, we will see a marked increase in vulgar displays of wealth gotten by unsavory means. And we will see men indenture themselves unto every perverse servitude in hopes of having money at all costs. The movie, Get Rich or Die Tryin is the epitome of this concept at the lowest level.[]

11.14.05 republished

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