The entire basis of money is a Pareto Optimality, thus I would amend that statement to be "The real use of money is to buy freedom at someone else's expense."

The entire basis of money is a Pareto Optimality, thus I would amend that statement to be "The real use of money is to buy freedom at someone else's expense." Now it's also possibly that if we view money through the lens of a Nash equilibrium, that in the long term we are doing what is best for all of us by constantly seeking greater productivity. Therefore, "On a long enough time scale, the real use of money is to buy freedom for every one as money is traded with those that can achieve the greatest productivity." Money is the lubricant that permits the human machine to find the most efficient means of production.