Since its existence, money has been a powerful tool, whose significance depended on the attitude of the money owner to it. Without the attached value, money is a neutral means for survival that is used to ensure the access to the necessities. However, when in hands of people with different personalities, goals, aspirations and views, it can become a positive or a negative influence on one’s own life and on the lives of many people. It can be used to provide immediate help, food, clothes, a roof over one’s head and to finance professional projects, hobbies and recreation; however, at the same time, in the wrong hands, money can become a means to maintain power over the lives of other people, an instrument to fill in the hole in one’s soul and a stimulant of one’s otherwise low self-esteem. Often, the attitude towards money is shaped since childhood by the closest family and by the society, media and businesses, whose marketing campaigns can be very misleading. Later in life, people can make a choice how to treat money, but this choice is very complicated by the constant information inflow that projects the reality, where happy life is only available to those, who possess wealth. Unfortunately, for the last few decades, with the increase of popularity of television, internet and social networks, the culture of consumerism has laid hands on the American society, as people started to spend an increasing amount of money each year, while reportedly becoming less happy at the same time (DeAngelis). Nowadays, the worship of money has become a religion that praises wealth above anything else, influencing the lives of the individuals, society and future generations, and although some many see such worship as a driving force for economic upturn and self-actualization, unfortunately, making money a center of one’s gravity has a negative impact on individuals and society.
Worshipping Money means that the latter becomes an ultimate object of adoration with the value higher than any other object, entity, person or virtue. Such attitude towards money makes it the reference point to measure the value of everything else by comparing it to the value of money. Unfortunately, the adoption of such attitude can bring several negative outcomes to the individuals that attain it, including, the devaluation of the really fundamentally significant things, such as human life, happiness, love, family, community, spirituality, friends, relationships, etc. At the same time, the decline of significance of the things that do matter can lead to unhealthy and even harming cynicism, arrogance, ignorance and detachment from reality. Meanwhile, these are often accompanied by the distortion of one’s moral views and the loss of moral compass. In such circumstances, a money worshipper can become more selfish and concentrated on maintaining own wealth and on satisfaction of own desires and ambitions to the detriment of other people’s well-being. Ultimately, placing money upon a pedestal can lead to the lack of altruism and empathy towards others, as well as to the harming of others, whether in pursuit of wealth or as a result of an upbringing in such system of values. One of the most vivid examples of the negative influence of worship of money on individuals and society is the 2013 Texas case, where a 16-year-old teenager, who killed four people because of the drunk driving, states that the wealth of his family should be a reason, why he should be freed from the responsibility; as a result, he received only 10 years of probation and the order to undergo therapy, a decision, which caused public outrage because of the silent existence of two separate judicial systems: one for the wealthy people and another one for the rest (qtd. in Gregoire). Meanwhile, the study by the University of California, Berkeley showed that the luxury car drivers were four times less likely than other drivers to give way to the pedestrians when it was legally required (qtd. in Gregoire). Moreover, the researchers from the same university claimed that among Monopoly players those, who had more fake money behaved more loudly and aggressively (qtd. in Gregoire). The aforementioned examples persuade that people, who choose to worship money, tend to exhibit neglectful, arrogant and entitled behavior that is harmful to the society and individuals. The advocates of blind pursuit of wealth may argue that not everyone is spoilt by money, and there actually many successful examples of rich people, who have great personalities and make incredible contributions to the world. Moreover, negative personality traits that can develop under the influence of money and devaluation of more significant things can be caused by the initial bad upbringing of such people. However, the examples above have shown that even in game situations people, whose income is unequal, can alter their personalities for the time of the game. At the same time, the main difference between the rich people, who were not spoilt by money, and those, who were, is the very attitude towards wealth. The former ones focus on their professional projects and life goals, using money as a means, while the latter ones focus on earning more money, which is their goal.
Worship of money can lead to the association of success with wealth. Indeed, modern pop-culture, especially pop music industry, actively promotes such association through the image of the modern celebrities, who have the world fame and perfect, beautiful lives. While there is no harm in any of the above, the lyrics of their songs, the messages in their interviews and other types of media put the emphasis on the significance of pursuit of wealth in the possibility to achieve personal success and happiness. As the younger generations, many of whom are active consumers of information and users of the latest technological devices and software, are especially prone to believe the stories of their favorite role models without the ability to critically assess the credibility of such stories, they, along with many other Americans, are the target of marketing of happiness that can be bought. As a result of such practice, Americans have been spending an increasing amount of money over the past decades in pursuit of happiness. Indeed, according to the , the American middle class was found to be overspending money back in 1995,when people spent more than they realized and more than they could afford in order to cope with everyday pressures (Schor). Twenty years later, the researchers in a Federal Board of Reserve have shown in 2014 the connection between lower income of households compared to their neighbors and their expenditures on luxury items, risky investments and higher debts (qtd. in Jacobs). Moreover, the psychologists of the University of Warwick found that people living in the states with more income equality invested less time and energy on browsing for luxury goods than people from the states with more income inequality (qtd. in Jacobs). These examples show that worshipping money in the modern society has made people very susceptible to advertising, marketing and negative feelings, including envy and low self-esteem based on inability to afford expensive goods to supposedly feel happier. Such frustration may possibly lead to depression and other psychological disorders. On the other hand, the advocates of worshipping money argue that pursuing wealth can bring general happiness, especially when people feel pressure and are stressed. Moreover, money can give independence and expand opportunities of self-actualization. While it is true that buying new things can be a very satisfying experience, especially after a bad day or week, and money spent on hobbies, interests, personal growth and other deeply-satisfying things, the research published in the Monitor of Psychology journal shows that there is no direct correlation between happiness and wealth; in fact, people, who pursuit wealth as a goal, feel more unhappy than others because of the lack of time spent on nurturing happiness, developing relationships and pursuing intrinsic goals, such as personal growth and connection with community (DeAngelis). For this reason, it is necessary to understand the difference between worshipping money and striving to earn them to help pursuit more meaningful goals.
Finally, valuing money over other things in life can lead to the empty and meaningless living that is filled with depression, despair or void. Sometimes, people can turn to money as an ultimate means to fill in the huge gap in their lives. Often, this gap is associated with the lack of strong relationships, self-belief, self-actualization, love and other positive components of a human life. For example, the longitudinal study results published in the journal Motivation and Emotion in 2013 have shown that the same people, who were tested at the age of 18 and later at the age of 30, showed lesser proneness to mental disorders if they have become less materialistic over the years (qtd. in Monbiot). A study published in Psychological Science journal showed that people, who were exposed to the images of expensive products felt more depressive, anxious, competitive and selfish, as well as less interested in demanding social activities (qtd. in Monbiot). The opponents of such point of view may argue that money actually add meaning to life, as one can pay for one’s favorite hobbies, interests and other fulfilling activities with money, and, for this reason, pursuing them may be a liberating experience. However, this is not always true. Actually, children from wealthy families that can afford expensive hobbies, traveling and other interesting activities, are actually often substance-abusers or are isolated from their parents and peers; according to the research, wealthier children are more susceptible to depression, eating disorders, stealing, marijuana use and binge drinking (Gregoire). Such results might be a testimony to the fact that money cannot fill in the gaps caused by the missing relationships with parents and friends, as well as by the lack of acceptance and maladaptation to the society, especially the peers. For this reason, in order to fill the inner void, one should rather worship deeper and more meaningful values than money, as such values can become a good foundation for strong and long-lasting relationships, for self-actualization, as well as for high self-esteem.
Money can be a useful means of achieving personal goals and support for one’s well-being. However, the worship of money as a sacred object that can bring ultimate satisfaction can actually lead to negative results for the individual and society. Worshipping money can lead to the distortion of one’s personal values, as well as of the values prevalent in the society. It can lead people into misbelief that happiness can be bought through constant purchasing of often unnecessary and unaffordable possessions. Worshipping money can, finally, lead to a feeling of inner void, depression and other mental diseases and disorders. On the other hand, the advocated of the cult of money may argue that not everyone’s moral compass is lost with the increase of wealth and that many people manage to earn huge amount of money and make positive changes in the world. They may also argue that happiness can be bought, especially after during stressful times, and that money can give opportunities for personal success. Finally, they may claim that pursuing wealth can help fill the missing parts of one’s life and can set one free from the restraints caused by the lack of finances. However, when misunderstood and misused, money can become a harmful tool in the wrong hands of people, who worship them more than anything else in life. For this reason, it is important to always keep in mind that money is a means to achieve various goals, small and big ones, and should not deprive one of true happiness because of being one’s final goal.
Works Cited
DeAngelis, Tori. "Consumerism and Its Discontents." Monitor on Psychology 35.6 (2004): 52. American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association. Web. 10 July 2015. <http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/discontents.aspx>.
Gregoire, Carolyn. "How Money Changes The Way We Think And Behave." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 July 2015.
Jacobs, Tom. "Income Inequality Inspires Interest in Luxury Items." Pacific Standard. The Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy, 23 Mar. 2015. Web. 10 July 2015.
Monbiot, George. "Materialism: A System That Eats Us from the inside out." The Guardian. The Guardian, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 July 2015.
Schor, Juliet B. "The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer." The New York Times. The New York Times, 1998. Web. 10 July 2015.
