Money: The Ruler of the World
By Alisha Klug



Imagine a world where you were you and everyone you knew were enslaved by a symbol of something that may or may not be there, simply because you needed that symbol to live. In this imaginary world most people are not even aware of the fact that they are enslaved, and if they are, there is little they can do about it because of the ignorance of the others. This “imaginary” world exists, and you live in it, and we are all enslaved to money. Some of you are probably thinking something along the lines of; “I’m not a slave to money, as a matter of fact, I don’t even CARE about money”. Unfortunately you are gravely mistaken. What do you use to live? Can you live without earning money? Even those who receive government issued financial aid like food stamps are relying on money. It may not be their own, but it is still money. Any food or clothing that is given away for free was bought at some point in time with money. The plants or the fabric used to make it had to be bought with money. Even the most powerful king or president depends upon money, and therefore, money is the true ruler of this world.


What arguments do I have to back up these outrageous claims? I will begin by telling the story of the beginning:

Before there was currency, most people used a method called bartering. When you barter with someone, you are trading something that you have for something that you need or want. There is no currency involved, only goods or labor. Unfortunately, as communities began to grow and form civilizations, bartering got difficult due to the growing diversity of goods and services offered. Therefore something had to be done to make things easier. The only problem was the fact that humans, being imperfect beings, do not tend to make the right choices when making decisions because we do not think logically by nature. Sure, we see the problems when they arise, but our methods of soling them are not usually very good. So, we had this problem, and someone, or a group of people decided to take charge over the others. This was the first mistake leading to our current predicament, because humans cannot rule over each other without causing confusion and catastrophe. Romans 4:15 states: “where there is no law there is no transgression.” Humans cannot rule over each other because we are imperfect. So, we have this person who has taken charge, and he needs to be able to control people in some way so that they will be able to trade to survive. So, this ruler decides to find something that is rare and call it currency. This way the people will all be able to buy things from each other whether or not they have something that the other person needs. These seems like a great idea, but remember, this thing that was to be used as currency was simply chosen to be currency, but does it have any real value anymore? Not really, it is more of just a symbol representing wealth, even though it doesn’t really mean anything. This is brainwashing at best, and it is pretty safe to assume that brainwashing is wrong. Moving on, eventually there would be curious people who would explore other areas and begin their own civilizations. This eventually caused problems because, due to the desire for power that these rulers had due to the illusion that they created (unless they were just control freaks), the civilizations would fight against each other, causing death and foul relations. Thus began the idea of an empire or country: a place where a person or group of people could control people, which would get the money, and as a result, the more people you control the more money you have in your power.

Later on, paper with symbols and numbers on it began to replace actual money, making it a symbol of a symbol. For example, in the United States, paper was first printed as a representation of currency in 1862 in order to finance the Civil War (a war brought on because of multiple issues, including slavery that had to do with money). There had been a shortage of coins because people had started hoarding them in order to stay alive, but the uncertainty in the market that it caused made it so something of less value had to represent coins. This new concept of using paper for money further brainwashes people, and today there is far more paper currency than the actual gold it represents.


Now money is the center of attention with everything. The first presidential debate of 2012 in the U.S. was all about money, and what the candidates would do with it, and caring about the people was rarely mentioned. Countries owe different countries a bunch of money, and it is a big, confusing mess. Money is not just used for living either. Pour world now revolves around material objects to make us temporarily happy, which are all bought with money. Many relationships, even between husbands and wives, are based on money and objects rather than love. 1 Timothy 6:10 states: “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” In the U.S. only, 38 million notes are printed a day, with a face value of approximately $541 million. Different types of money is being printed all over the world, every day, and because of this, we are all enslaved to money.