Money is the undisputed determinant of quality of life for inhabitants of the modern world. The concerns of money have become pertinent to people all over the world, including the ones who are living in communist societies. Money has made an indelible mark on our lives, and it controls our politics, entertainment, social bonds, and fears, among other aspects. Hollywood has become synonymous with colossal amounts of money as opposed to it being an entertainment capital. Political campaigns in places like America and Britain require millions of dollars to conduct; consequently, politics has become an exclusive club for the rich.
Nevertheless, money today is a product of events that have transpired over a period of many centuries. Money is also known to elicit mixed feelings among individuals of various social and religious orientations. Christians, Jews, and Muslims are known for having a love-hate relationship with money. Other communist oriented societies like to inter-relate with money whilst maintaining a healthy distance from this commodity.
The history of money is marked by several financially significant events such as the advent of banking, financiers, investment banking, and insurance services. The advent of virtual money has eliminated the need for bartering. Global tax rates have become largely uniform over the course of the last century as countries seek to compete against each other on the global-economic front. This paper catalogs my reflections about money, its purpose, and significance with respect to how all these factors have changed over the course of history.
It has become clear to me that trust and the availability of external authorities are the two main factors that have made money popular. Previously, I was of the view that money was explicitly designed to replace barter trade. However, it is true that barter trade was not the only form of trade in most societies. Some societies utilized gift economies as a means of doing business, while others used intricate forms of credit systems for their trading needs.
Barter trade continued to thrive for many years, even after money economies gained prominence. The topics that were covered in this semester indicate that money is mostly synonymous with administrative powers. Consequently, societies that had well-structured administrations, such as the Roman Empire tended to embrace the use of money faster than informal civilizations. The interests of tax collectors were another great contributor to the popularity of money. It was easier for early administrations to collect money as opposed to them collecting commodities from farmers and work smiths. The popularity of money-based economies was not a solution to barter trade. Money became popular because it favoured the main stakeholders, including governments and wealthy merchants.
There are many examples of rhetoric that involves money and its purpose in society. As a child, I often found myself wondering why people had to work for a piece of paper that can be printed quite easily. People were using money as early as ten millenniums ago. The earliest known material for making money was obsidian and it was later on replaced by copper and silver. Money in the form of animals or grains was also an interesting concept. The thought of people buying goods with cattle presents logistical challenges that would be hard to solve in modern-day economies. The answer to the question of where money came from can be answered using the explanation that money has always been part of the society but it has assumed different forms from time to time.
There is concern over the pertinent issue of money and the emotions it elicits from various people. People appear to be uncomfortable around money and those who have it are often labeled as ‘greedy’. One of the world’s greatest confrontations involved communists on one side and capitalists on the other. Furthermore, some individuals are of the opinion that capitalism is evil. Nevertheless, this term I was able to discover that life without money as a unit of measurement is practically impossible. I have encountered individuals who ‘hate’ money but none of their arguments makes sense to me now.
One of my friends is of the view that the need to make money has ‘changed’ people in a very negative manner. According to this friend, we would all be nicer, friendlier, kinder, law-abiding, and compassionate people if there was no money to corrupt us. After the lessons that I have covered this term, the argument for a moneyless society appears simplistic to me. In my view, money is the unifying element in the world. When people are looking for this commodity, they endeavor to learn the languages spoken by other people and understand foreign cultures. Money also ensures that the interests of the ordinary people are protected by institutions that have been formed using money including police units, courts, and juries.
The judgment passed on capitalists by my acquaintance is similar to the situation in Stephen Leacock’s “Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich”. Leacock’s society did not understand how a person who ‘did not go to work’ like everybody else ended up having so much more than his laboring counterparts had. Today every activity that is conducted within the confines of the legal system can be a source of money for any citizen. Traces of the satire that is found in Leacock’s book were recently witnessed during the recent “Occupy Wall Street” protests. Nevertheless, the null nature of the Wall Street protests meant that their ideology did not achieve any significant gains in the end.
Every year the “Forbes Magazine” compiles lists of the ‘richest individuals’ in the world. The Forbes’ lists also encompass various demographics such as sportsmen, actors, and teenagers among others. The concept of wealth holders and the economy in Canada is captured in Gustavus Myers’ book “A History of Canadian Wealth”. Consequently, the “Forbes Magazine” often seeks to list the people who control various aspects of the economy including entertainment, sports, and technology. According to Myers, the people who own most economic stakes also have control over their areas of operation. The “Forbes Magazine” also compiles lists of the ‘most influential’ and ‘most powerful’ individuals.
It is common knowledge that wealth and power go hand in hand. Economic power also translates into political power, a fact that is outlined by Myers in his book. Various people have attempted to theorize why money is closely related to power. Myers is of the opinion that people connect wealthy individuals to power because it is difficult to distinguish between personalities and economic forces. Consequently, observers merge individuals with the economic forces that accompany them.
From this lesson, I understood that a person such as Bill Gates is only powerful in the context of his stake in Microsoft Corporation. For instance, if someone who does not recognize Bill Gates meets him while he is vacationing, he will consider him as an ordinary tourist with power that is equivalent to that of a vacationer. However, when Bill Gates attends a meeting as Microsoft’s stakeholder, he wields the power that is equivalent to Microsoft’s billion-dollar industry. Power and money are only inseparable in the context of the available information and this is why publications such as “Forbes Magazine” are a useful tool when instigating power plays.
In my opinion, money in modern times is quite intangible in nature and too dependent on other forces. Consequently, even money and wealth that is held by ordinary individuals can be affected by insignificant events such the collapse of the insurance industry. In recent times, investment bankers have been responsible for several monetary shocks and financial scares in Europe and America. In the United States and Canada, home-ownership is a major determinant of the economic atmosphere.
In the United States, home mortgages are used as a form of monetary exchange. I found the issue of inflation versus the bond markets to be intriguing at first but I was able to understand it wholly in the end. It took governments and financial stakeholders a lot of time to master the dynamics of the bond market. Over this period, investors in the bond market have been subjected to several financial difficulties. These difficulties are responsible for the stability that is synonymous with the current bond market. It was interesting to learn about how various people have failed while attempting to manipulate the bond market.