Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Money makes even a fool appear like a sane person' that was published in Newsband

Money makes even a fool appear like a sane person

In the beginning there was the barter system. The barter system is basically a trade arrangement and requires that two or more parties have a mutual desire to trade and have goods that the other one wants to acquire. In the small and primitive cultures of pre-history, this was often enough. The only commodities that anyone had any interest in were food, clothing, and weapons. If one man had a weapon, and the other had some food, a deal could be easily arranged.

It was because of the ability of the human mind to understand symbols and to assign value to them that we were able to develop a means of moving past the barter system. Money became the means by which civilization and socialization took place.

Once man invented money he did not have to wait for someone willing to trade the food he desired for his art. He could trade the art for money, and trade the money for the food. Money became the middle man that allowed diversification and growth.

In the barter system if one art piece was worth four cows, then the cows must have a value of one unit of money and the art piece must be worth four units.

The advantage of money was that you could save your money, and accumulate it for use at another time. This was the beginning of the idea of wealth. Money has been called the root of all evil, but actually it is the root of all growth.

People with money influence laws and religions, and have egos which make them think they are superior to others. Money makes even a fool appear like a sane person while lack of money makes a wise person appear like a fool.

The myth or misconception about the power of money is all about understanding that money is simply a tool for people to use. It should not be seen as the end all, be all of life - never at no time. If seen as that, it could trigger people to do things that they would not normally do. In some cases, people end up living a life of crime, because they do not know any other way and they know a job isn't going to get it done. That is the reality they live in, because of their view.

There are some people who believe money cannot buy everything. The one thing they compare it to is love, which is a human emotion. But many a time this argument fails. Sooner or later one realizes that money is a requirement for life, respectful life - a life that has some assortment of dignity.