These concepts of morality and virtue, unfortunately, have been usurped in our culture. Contrary to Aristotle’s teachings, for too many people especially in the financial services industry, it is now the accumulation of wealth for the sake of wealth that is the primary objective.
Today, men and women born penniless can work hard and become the wealthiest among us. But rich or poor, ancient Greek or modern American, it is not simply not just “nice” to have money. Money is necessary to live.
Without money we can’t shelter ourselves, or feed ourselves, or afford effective health care when we’re injured or sick. Without money we cease to exist. And, for those of us fortunate enough to have more of it than what’s needed just to survive, money can make life more comforting and amusing, because we can afford a higher quality of the essentials as well as toys, travel, and entertainment.
For many people, money serves as a powerful incentive to work hard, which is an admirable endeavor that breeds good character, self-confidence, mental and physical fitness, and creativity.
On the larger scale, money bankrolls important ideas and investments for the good of science, culture, and society. It encourages the ongoing exchange of valuable, life-enriching goods and services, which in turn generate employment opportunities. It provides for us, it protects us, it preserves and delights us, and it enhances the nature and extent to which we can exercise our freedoms.
In other words, money is good.
But you already knew that.
What you don’t know, or what maybe you need to learn a bit more about, is how to identify the circumstances in which money can be limiting—in which it ceases to contribute to feelings of autonomy, flexibility, and freedom and starts to mean something else.