> Us westerners in Christian based societies somehow always like to say that money is the root of all evil Traditionally, the saying is that the love of money

> Us westerners in Christian based societies somehow always like to say that money is the root of all evil Traditionally, the saying is that the love of money is the root of all evil. > I feel that that stance (at the very least) doesn't take into account what the alternative is to money The alternative to loving money is not loving money. Fundamentally, money is an IOU. It is certainly useful to be able to give something to someone now and not have to take what they have to trade at the same time. If I offer you work, and you offer me food in return, the food may be spoiled before I get around to eating it. Indeed, it is much better to take your IOU (money) for my work and then redeem it for fresh food later on when I'm hungry. That is an incredibly useful tool. The love of money implies that one starts amassing more IOUs than they could ever possibly redeem just for the sake of having IOUs in their hand. This becomes a drain on one's life as they keep giving and giving without getting anything back in return, notably taking focus away from religion in order to give beyond their reasonable means. > I deserve the downvotes, but this is one of those posts that generates a lot of replies and I see it going up and down in karma. It's somehow "engaging". Downvotes and upvotes are equivalent, both providing record in a poor man's analytics system. Naturally it is engaging to think that your work is being seen. No doubt that is why you are here and not writing the same words in a private journal.