Money may empower people, but its inherent dualities can also contribute to a sense of imprisonment. Obsession with money can breed greed, paranoia, fear, delusions of elitism and superiority, and envy.
Conversely, inching towards morality helps incrementally free you from such corrupting negativity.
When you have to ask a question such as “Would you put your mother in it?” you surrender all trust, both externally and internally, as you concede your voluntary role in this never-ending quest for money. Deep inside, you know there are so few you can trust, just as you know you cannot be trusted at times. Human nature. It all comes from within: to trust others you must first trust yourself.
There are consequences to breaking social contracts. Viewing money as a be-all-and-end-all can be isolating and constricting, because money cannot substitute for a healthy and happy sense of self.
Morality and trust build. Lack of morality and lack of trust erodes.
If not kept in perspective, money can create emotional incarceration.
I am reminded of a patient from years ago, a floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He was wildly successful. He had accumulated 40 million dollars in cash, and he had no debt. However, he suffered with demons from his youth; he never felt adequate, he always felt less then. He went on buying sprees, the more expensive the better: exotic cars, exotic knives, exotic shotguns and rifles, race horses. He was literally out of control and the emptiness and sense of inadequacy never went away. He ultimately decompensated, was hospitalized for depression, lost most of his money, and then and only then was he able to begin to work back toward some semblance of balance and sanity. Only then was he able to surrender and truly process and reveal what he really thought and felt without fear. Over time he was able to recoup most of his holdings. He tempered his life style. He sold off his “collections,” and embraced humility.