Thought of the Day 04.07.09

Many people have a negative view of money, which I believe comes mostly from just not understanding how money works and the good that it does.

For instance, loving people work hard to benefit their fellow man with deeds and gifts that make their lives better. But most of us aren’t good enough to do this when we don’t have to or don’t get rewarded for doing so. So money encourages us to produce as if we love our neighbors, even if we don’t really.

Similarly, self-controlled people only take what they need. But the truth is that most of us will take far more than this if something’s cheap or free, just because it’s free. So limited money causes us to consume as if we are self-controlled, even if we really aren’t.

Thus money functions as a sort of moral technology, making lazy people behave like they’re generous and making greedy people behave like they have self-control. Though neither change a man’s heart, we shouldn’t underestimate the societal value of such improvements in man’s behavior.