Being and Nothingness - A Trilogy on Money: Part 1

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Part 1

Our society has witnessed an unusual and unnatural preoccupation with money. Originally money was at best a means of exchange, as a substitute for exchanging goods for goods. Barter as we call it, was purely need based and there was no concept of having more than one required. As long as our basic needs were fulfilled, life went on. The concept of money is a human construct, a product of our civilization, where more money was sought to be earned for future, known and unknown needs. Since this could not be quantified, there was a tendency to acquire and hoard money. It soon became a symbol of social status and a claim for imagined superiority. The ostentatious aspect emerged as the superfluous money was flaunted making it desirable and a measure of success. The means to acquire more and more money led to compromising on the means to acquire it. Thus money brought along its associated evils of corruption, power, greed, degradation of values.



In today’s consumerist  society, no amount of money one has can be deemed to be enough. There are huge number of products and services, and with their aggressive marketing, a perceived demand or need for them is created. A psychological vacuum is sought to be filled, where is in real sense there is none. The sense of need is impossible to be satiated unless there is personal conviction that in material terms we have all that we need to live a full and complete life. The shift has to take place from enjoying what we already have rather than trying to acquire more to satisfy future imagined needs. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.


There is often a compulsive behavior to earn more or get higher returns. This is probably valid at the start of one’s life, but after a certain age, most would have built a sufficient corpus. Still holding on to the desire to earn more, may not be justified particularly when it becomes a obsession that denies enjoyment of what you already have. At that age there is much to look forward to – pursuing hobbies, spending time with family, friends, travelling, making contribution to society with acquired skills and knowledge, teaching, mentoring, acquiring spiritual wealth. Greater focus should be to safeguard your capital rather than be preoccupied with just growing it.


A society that puts such great emphasis on money is unfortunately not equipped to handle its lack. There are vast inequalities of income leading to human suffering. This is greatly accentuated by the inordinate importance to money, that the lack of it becomes painful. But this need not be the case  if we hold the contrarian view that it is not the man who has little, but he who desires more, that is poor. Earning money when incidental to one’s honest, hard work, actually helps build character, which is a greater fortune any way. We may fail in our endeavour, but amid the failure, the work on character goes on.  Everything we do leaves its imprint within, upon our soul. Even the struggle leaves a recompense within.  Ultimately we  build an enduring and sustainable channel to wealth creation, and of course, a hugely satisfying one.

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