Is money evil?
🤑😈 Part 2 of What's broken with humanity and how crypto can help fix it. Smesher #014
When you search the question “is money evil?” you are likely to get, first and foremost, questions raised by worried believers, and answers from religious and spiritual guides, many of whom agree on two things:
That it’s based on a misquote; the original verse (1 Timothy 6:10) says that it is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil.
That money is neither good nor evil. It is a means of exchange. You can use it to build a better world or to exploit people and resources. You can save a life with it, or ruin one.
Is the monetary system evil?
Ah, now that is a different question, which raises additional ones, such as does a debt-based economy make sense? Doesn’t the fact that, on average, we each carry around a debt of about $32,000 mean the system is broken?
Does it make sense that some people in the world own airplanes and islands while others earn less than $1 a day and don’t have access to drinking water? And…
What would happen if everything was FREE?
Watch Colin R. Turner’s TED talk on Open Access Economy (18 minutes) to open your mind to new thoughts on this question.
What are some possible solutions?
Many think that it’s a question of redistribution of wealth, and come up with solutions accordingly. For example, turning employees into shareholders.
This idea appeals to liberals and conservatives alike. As John Case of The Atlantic put it: “The left favors spreading the wealth. The right wants to create more capitalists. With employee ownership, they can both get their way.”
But even if you support this solution, you can’t ignore the fact that it sets a pretty high barrier to entry: you need to be employed, with a steady job.
Another initiative that takes a shot at lowering the barrier-to-entry to owning equity, is Bits of Stock. This app enables big brands to offer their return-customers micro-shares, instead of the usual points that translate into rewards of loyalty programs.
If successful, the app could help a younger generation build some long-term wealth. Maybe. However, the barrier to entry is that you need to spend money first. Which, for us, also raises questions about consumerism. It’s hard not to feel that solutions that operate within the existing system, tend to fall short.
Can decentralized systems save us?
Our hopes are riding on decentralized platforms, that have the potential to facilitate the redistribution of power and wealth.
But can the existing crypto platforms really achieve this goal? Can you reach true decentralization, if not everyone can participate? If not everyone has sufficient time, money, and knowledge to take part? Steve Glaveski, co-founder of Collective Campus, breaks down these questions in his article The rich get richer with crypto and NFTs.
This is not to say, that decentralization is not the solution. It is very likely our best shot at changing the system, and moving away from top-down centralized governance, which creates a debt-based economy and favors the few over the many. Decentralization is our best shot at creating a bottom-up, emergent economy, that favors the many over the few and promotes equality.
But for that to happen, it has to be done properly: We need to set the barriers as low as possible for knowledge, time and investment. We need wide participation. Only then will we see the power of money to do good, and no longer will it be suspected as the source of all evil.
Want to delve deeper into this? Here are some great resources
From the UN: The Future is Decentralized
From World Bank Blog: Trust is Key
From Rebel Wisdom: Decentralized Collective Intelligence