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Money Worship
To worship something is to 'assign worth' to that thing.
Money worship does not just mean having a fondness for material things as some might hazard but has a more specific meaning.
Money worship is a practice that 'assigns worth' to money. Through money worship people come to believe that money is the source of all that is good for life.
Because of this belief money-worshippers are willing to dedicate their time, energies and capabilities to the procurement of money.
However this is problematic because money is not in fact the source of life but instead a token of accounting.
In fact money only exists at all where there are money-worshippers. A bank note is only worth something if people believe that it is worth something and are willing to work to obtain it. If nobody wants a bank note then it is just a piece of paper.
If money dominates a society then the question of the distribution of money comes to the fore. Those who have access to money have access to all the goods of a society, while those with none may get nothing and struggle to survive.
It is sometimes argued that money is a reward for productive work and so the power of purchase afforded by money is automatically and fairly distributed to those who produce the most for society. However in reality there is no law that makes money always follow productive work. Instead there are other mechanisms that move money about not related to productive work - and the richest people may simply be those most adept at exploiting these mechanisms.
Ordinary money-worshippers who desire to obtain money must normally do work at the bidding of those who have money to distribute. Thus they become servants of others and are not free to pursue the best path in life as they see fit.
According to the principle of Eudistra or Right Spreading - the control of money systems, the degree of access to money, and the degree to which money is used at all should be spread 'righteously' across the world to satisfy human need the best and promote the flourishing of life.
July 4011