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Money and the Economic System
(From:
‘Earth People’ Volume 1 Number 4)
I have read and
heard all sorts of arguments justifying the use of money
or an economic system in our human society. One argument
equates money, business and economy with the universal
laws of abundance. And I have seen one advertisement
costing 100’s of dollars saying: “Wealth
and Spirituality are not mutually exclusive.” Yes spirituality is now being
marketed as: “The Rapidly Growing
Multi-billion Dollar Personal Growth Industry.”
I have even heard very wise and spiritual people say to
me that this current economic system is the current
‘reality’ of our world society, and that you
must be a part of it to change it.
While my understanding of life and quantum physics
indicates that there is a measure of truth in all the
arguments I’ve heard, I must remind you of two
facts.
Firstly, it is this money, economy based principle that
has helped to create the greed within our social system
and therefore the rape and destruction of our Mother
Earth and our own minds.
Secondly and most importantly, money is a tool, and as
with all tools, it is supposed to serve humanity, as
I’m sure it did for a good many years, and as
humanity we have a lot to be grateful for the knowledge
we have gained via the use of money.
On this subject Joseph Campbell refers to “The
Machine” saying that the first time anyone
made a tool, taking a stone and chipping it to make an
axe, is the beginning of a machine, the turning of outer
nature into your service. But then he says that there
comes a time when the machine begins to dictate to you
how you are going to live.
This is where money and our economic system are today.
Where the system, the machine of this economic system, is
now dictating to man that we spend 36+ hrs per week
working, and 90% of our consciousness on where the money
is going to come from and where it is going to go to.
I can’t help thinking of Pink Floyd’s two
songs: ‘Money’ (it’s a crime), and
‘Welcome to the Machine’.
Joseph Campbell says that the universal truths that can
be found in any of the mythological stories and ancient
metaphors can still work to guide and inform society. And
that one of the best examples of these truths being
clothed in modern metaphors is the ‘Star Wars’
trilogy, where Darth Vader represents the machine and
addresses the problem of: “Is the
machine, and the state is the machine, is the machine
going to crush humanity, or serve humanity. And humanity
comes not from the machine, but from the heart.”
Chogyam Trungpa in ‘Shambhala – The Sacred Path
of the Warrior’ says this about money and wealth:
“If people are poor, they want to take money or
resources away from those who have more. And if people
are wealthy, in the sense of having money, then they want
to hold on to what they have, because they think that
giving up some of their money will make them
impoverished. With that mentality on both sides, it is
difficult to imagine any fundamental change, taking
place. Or if it does take place, it is based on
tremendous hatred and violence…
“Of course, if you are starving, then what you want
is food. In fact, food is what you need. [Not money. Ed.]…
People with money have been willing to sacrifice
thousands of human lives to hold on to their wealth, and
on the other side, people in need have been willing to
massacre their fellows for a grain of rice, a hope for a
penny in their pocket…
“But the real meaning of wealth is knowing how to
create a gold like situation in your life.”
And he says that this wealth comes from putting your own
energy and effort into caring for your world. And by
doing the mundane and sometimes dirty jobs for yourself,
which not only saves you money but is also more
dignified. It is this dignity that makes one wealthy. In
light of this, I can now see that I am and have always
been one of the wealthiest people on the planet. This is
because I usually clean, fix maintain, tune, service,
improvise or go without all my things quite happily,
although sometimes I do so with a little grumble of
complaint, as I’m not perfect.
The great ceremonial chief of the Teton Sioux, and holy
man Frank Fools Crow (1890-1989) in dialog with author
Thomas E. Mails in the book ‘Fools Crow – Power
and Wisdom’ discusses his abilities to lure whatever
he needs thus:
“How about money.” [Thomas asks]
“You can lure what you need, but that fancy new car
you drive, you had to get that with your natural power.
Spiritual power is for other things… My luring is
always done for something for my people…”
“Some television evangelists,” [Thomas said] “claim
that God blesses people who give generously to their
cause. What do you think about this?”
“I have heard about that, and what they mean is,
give generously to them.” Fools Crow commented with a hint
of sarcasm in his voice. [Thomas added] “Lots of
people have told me that with my curing powers I could
become a very rich man by demanding high payments. But
that is not what Wakan-tanka [God] wants me to do, and
the power is His anyway. He has made it clear that being
rich does not bring happiness, and that it takes
people’s mind away from Him. Some time during their
work (Ministry) the evangelists will pay a big price for
this misuse of power. No one abuses the things of Wakan-tanka and gets away with it forever.”
Crowfoot, a Blackfoot Chief who was born in 1821, in what
is now the province of Alberta Canada, was quoted as
saying the following in; ‘From the Heart –
Voices of the Native Americans’:
“Our land is more valuable than your money. It will
last forever. It will not ever perish by flames of fire.
As long as the sun shines and the waters flow, this land
will be here to give life to men and animals. We cannot
sell the lives of men and animals. It was put here for us
by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does
not belong to us. You can count your money and burn it
without the nod of a buffalo’s head, but only the
Great Spirit can count the grains of sand and the blades
of grass on the plains. As a present to you, we will give
you anything we have that you can take with you; but the
land never.”
In April of 1890, in his dying hours, his last words were
of life, as quoted in ‘Touch the Earth – A
Self-portrait of Indian Existence’, Compiled by T.C. McLuhan.
“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the
night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and
loses itself in the sunset.”
So money has served man’s life, but it has now well
and truly gone past its use by date in this throw away
society and it is time we threw it away and began a new
social system based on love, compassion and the
connectedness of all things. But I’m always open for
debate.
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