It would not be true to say that money is the root of all evil. It would be better to say that money is the root of some evil.
Realistically speaking, money is an important thing in everybody’s life. We need money for almost everything that we want. We need money to buy food, to have to place to stay in, to buy clothes, to go to school, to sit on a bus and to go to a public toilet. In short, we cannot live our modern way without money.
So most of us engage in some sort of work to earn a living. In other words, we work to get money in order to live. Many of us try to get by with whatever money we have but all of us would like to have more. We know that money can bring us many luxuries and pleasures. We imagine that people will look up to us only if we have money. Money can buy almost anything so much so we may think it can even buy happiness. That is where we make the blunder and allow money to rule our lives. That is when money becomes the root of many evils.
Consider a man who spends most of his time trying to. accumulate wealth. He realizes that others are also trying to do the same. How does one grab hold of what others desire too? If wealth cannot be obtained in one way, other ways may be employed, any other way. So this man probably will lie and cheat others to get what he wants. Similarly, others will cheat and manipulate him. If this man’s luck holds, he succeeds. otherwise, he falls picks himself up and tries again. The never-ending game continues.
Thus we read daily about people fighting to get into power. Those in power then make use of their position to line their pockets. Corruption is rife. Funds are embezzled and well-known figures feature in scandals that ‘rock’ society. In this quest for money, many evils are committed. Some leak out into public view, a lot is kept behind closed doors.
A successful man accumulates his wealth “for the sake of his children “When he dies, his children fight for the wealth. Brotherly or sisterly love vanishes like a puff of smoke. Lawsuits and physical threats take their place. The dream of one man is shattered by the very objects of his dream. Money controls their
For the sake of more money, a person with enough greed can do almost anything to get it. Many of the means of getting money are not what one would call decent. Banks and goldsmith shops are held up at gunpoint. Burglars break into houses. Young thugs extort from innocent victims. Girls sell themselves. Policemen take bribes, Parents gamble their families into poverty.
Even the honest ones are not spared the chains thrown around them by money. There are so many employees who slog unhappily day in day out at their jobs for their wages. Unhappiness breeds all sorts of tension and frustrations. Productivity drops. Health problems crop up.
From young, children are asked to work hard so that they can do well in the studies. What is the purpose of this effort to do well? Money again rears its ugly head. By doing well in his studies, a person stands a better chance of getting a ‘better-paying job. ‘Better paying’ means more money. Mere money means more happiness, or so they mistakenly assume.
Despite all the wealth a person has, happiness will elude him if he puts his happiness on his wealth. Howard Hughes died rich but forlorn. Big tycoons hire bodyguards to protect themselves. The not-so-rich ones work themselves to the point where suddenly they find that they are too old or sick to – enjoy their wealth if they have any. The average man works for money. Money has imprisoned them.
What else can be said about money? Well, we can let it work for us so that we do not become obsessed and enslaved by it, or we can work for it so that we become its slave and reap all its evil that it can give.