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The actual quotation, found in the New Testament. Timothy I verse 10, is 'for
the love of money is the root of all evil' -- and this presumably is what the
heading implies, for it is fairly obvious that money as a means of exchange is
no more the root of evil than it is the root of good. it is neutral -- as the
jungle is said to be ! Moreover, it is the indispensable standard against which
raw materials, goods and services may relatively be valued and as such is the
sine qua non of any kind of civilization whatsoever. The Biblical quotation
stems from the writer's belief that the Christian ought to live a spiritual life
in a material world, and this train of thought has ever since been a commonplace
of the Puritan tradition of Christian thought. The theory is that the world of
material things is corrupt and unredeemed. Money is its life blood, so money --
or its love -- must necessarily be an evil thing. But the other Christian school
of thought regards this as dualism, and will have none of it. money, it is
argued, can buy the good things of life, which confer benefits, always providing
unselfishness, and spirituality predominates in a person's thoughts -- and that
view which regards the world in which we live as an essentially evil place is
based on a wrong-headed, primitive Jewish notion that Satan thrown out of the
garden of Eden, corrupted God's world. The Spirit of Christianity -- like that
of other world religions -- is that money can be used well or ill, and that the
man who possesses it can be either a narrow miser or an open-handed benefactor.
Let us first examine the sense in which the statement is true. It has been said
that 'every man has his price'. This implies that everybody can be bribed,
providing the price is high enough. Most countries can provide examples of
financial corruption from the proud and rich to the humble and poor. Britain, in
recent years, had a Chancellor of the Exchequer who disclosed a budget secret
before the due for financial gain. Money can buy vice -- of any kind; and
organized vice exists to provide financial rewards to its criminal promoters.
Money can inculcate selfishness. It is often true that the more money a man
piles up, the meaner he becomes, whereas the poor show the quality of generosity
to a marked degree. Of course, it is difficult to say whether this is a question
of post or propter hoc ! Money confers powers corrupts; and infinite power
corrupts infinitely. The arrogant dictator is no better than the aggressive
business tycoon in this respect. And the majority of crimes are committed for
money, or loot, its equivalent, and we find that the love of money motivates the
protection-racket gang, the bootlegger in prohibition countries, the
dope-peddler, the thief who robes with violence, the gangster, the black-mailer,
the bank robber, the burglar, and a host of other denizens of the human
underworld.
But the obverse of the coin presents an equally clear picture. Modern standards
of living depend on industrialization, of which capital is the life blood.
Money, rightly used, can and does immeasurably improve the lot of the ordinary
person, whether in terms of food, clothing, houses, holidays, books, motor-cars
and such like consumer goods, or whether in terms of public services -- national
defense, public health, hospitals, libraries, clubs, playing fields, nature
reserves, unemployment pay and so on. In fact, without a steady flow of private
and public money, modern life is inconceivable. Money can also be used for the
benefit of those in need, whether at home or abroad through charitable
societies; it can provide education, foreign travel, and international cultural
exchange. It can enable religion to do its work of leading men's thoughts to
God, and teaching them to behave unselfishly towards each other. It can provide
grace, beauty and nobility in the cities and towns in which we live.
Surely the crux of the matter is the individual's attitude towards money. If he
regards money as an end in itself, to be increased and amassed for its own sake,
he is liable to become selfish and miserly, unconcerned about other people or
their needs. If he sees money as a means of buying physical pleasures for
himself, he is in danger of becoming a corrupt, indeed a criminal human being.
If, on the other hand, he earns money, but spends it wisely, he can do nothing
but good. This good may be to himself, if he spends his money to secure a
balanced and intelligent life; it can be to his dependents, if he
conscientiously provides them with a good home, a proper education, and a fair
share of this world's goods. It can be to the world at large, if he had enough
of it to give some away to benefit the community of which he is a member.
In such a case, money is certainly not the root of all evil. And if it is not
the root of all good, it is certainly the nourishment which helps that root to
grow. |
