4 ms·

Saying that money itself does not do anything is a truism. Money is a tool to get people to do something that they don't want to do otherwise. That's all it is

Saying that money itself does not do anything is a truism. Money is a tool to get people to do something that they don't want to do otherwise. That's all it is. All trade is fundamentally a person who has a thing and doesn't want to give it up giving it up in exchange for money. Labor is the same with a persons time. There are plenty of instances where the thing you get someone to do is "evil": bribes, assassinations, creating and distributing propaganda, having people fight in unjust wars, etc. While it is unlikely that most money is used to cause "evil" acts, it is very likely that most "evil" acts occur due to money changing hands.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
> All trade is fundamentally a person who has a thing and doesn't want to give it up giving it up in exchange for money. Labor is the same with a persons time. I disagree. What is a farmer going to do with 100 bushels of wheat? What is an oil producer going to do with 1 million gallons of oil? Trade happens (much of the time) because a person who has Thing A would rather have Thing B and is willing to give up Thing A for it. And person with Thing B would rather have Thing A and is willing to give up Thing B for it. And money is the technology that enables this exchange to happen more quickly and easily. >While it is unlikely that most money is used to cause "evil" acts, it is very likely that most "evil" acts occur due to money changing hands. This has nothing to do with money or trade. A bushel of wheat or barrel of oil could have changed hands instead of money. The evil act occurred because someone wanted it to occur, and it could occurred with or without a trade.