Money has become a part of everyday reality of virtually every person on the planet. Without money, most of our day-to-day activities and our life itself would be impossible. Our society would not exist if there was no money; it holds everything together like glue and it is good.

Money gives people the opportunity to furnish their life with private property and to live the way they want. It provides people with opportunities to travel around the world, meet interesting people and change their life as well as lives of other people. With money, one can eat and dress well, exercise properly, lead a healthy lifestyle. Money is not only universal value. It is also a source of limitless power. With its help, it is possible to change the history and the future of the whole nation. A person with money can found companies, build wonders of architecture, and bring brilliant ideas and innovations into life. Wealthy people can use their money for a good cause. An example is entrepreneurs and celebrities starting charity organizations to help those who suffer all around the world survive. So, money forms our society and defines people’s characters. Some people grow in poverty ( read growing up in poverty essay) and it has an influence on them.

In order to obtain a glass of milk in the past, a person needed to have a cow of his/her own. Another opportunity would be to get this glass of milk in exchange of pound of grain or a handcrafted thing. Money gives the ultimate freedom of choice. In our society, a person can acquire goods and services by giving away some of his/her money. Moreover, people receive money by giving away some of their goods or labor. That is how the society distributes resources. It has become a lever for the economy and it has given motion to progress, as we know it. This eternal circle of taking and giving gives life to the economy. Money is the blood in economic system. Without it, there would be no state and no government, because there would be no taxes. Therefore, there would be no rules and no laws. With uncontrolled growth of population, the world would fall into chaos. In order to survive, people would have to constantly produce something or provide services in exchange of everything else they need. Given present density of population on Earth, it would be impossible to adapt and manufacture something worthy. Imagine you are a hereditary lumberjack and your parents used to chop woods, providing lumber for the neighborhood. One winter a couple of other lumberjacks from a different area came to your village, driven by their reasons, and started exchanging wood for clothes, which your people have aplenty. It would lead you and your family to a hungry winter. In addition, you will not be prepared, because you cannot have savings, there is no money in the world. Money as a means of exchange has assisted in developing trade and extending markets, pumping life into the world economy. That is how money holds everything in the society together.

However, some would say that money is good only as long as it does not become an end of the exchange, a purpose of economic activities in general. Aristotle suggested that money as a means of exchange is natural and necessary for our society, but money as a final resolution is just the opposite and devoid of any limits. On the one hand, for the poor people money becomes the main aim they want to achieve, because it seems to be omnipotent, the only thing that can change their life and end their poverty. On the other hand, the rich still crave to earn more, by any means, not caring about their families or friends.

Nevertheless, historically money not only facilitates trade and develops the economy, but it also helps an economic man to grow. When money is the end of the exchange, it can transform into capital. It brings progress to a completely new level. Capitalism is the reason we have all modern corporations, devices, and gadgets in our lives. Capital brought us Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Ford, Walmart, and many other products that form our life as we know it.

There is much controversy about money, because it has ubiquitously to substitute morality and honesty. It has evolved to be people’s master and their reason to live. Some would say that money has shifted the system of human values and become a universal value with a central role in our society. That is true to some extent. Nowadays, a person can do any job even if it is directed against other people. There is nothing money cannot buy. Private interests now can interfere with morality and influence the social order. Things which normally would be despicable and appalling and conflicting with moral grounds would find their place in our society derailed with money obsession. People would use any means to get precious money. They are only its slaves and when time comes they see that they cannot use it for their happiness. Truly, one cannot purchase inner peace, true joy, youthfulness, and time from death.

However, money as a temptation is just a test of human morality. As a universal value, it has become a source of everlasting desire for many people. Moreover, since money seems to be so simple by nature, the object of this craving is very clear and easy to grasp by mind. This desire drives people to success. Giving clear purpose, it forms human personality. It brings up strong features of character, creating a leader. It will create or destroy a man’s character. Therefore, only those who are weak will fail seduced by money and those who are strong will only benefit. If one uses money for satisfying his/her needs, providing for the family and for common good, it means he/she is not a slave of money.

Overall, money is an important part of our reality, a universal value that brings life into the modern society. It is an element which motivates people and gives them a clear reason and purpose as of what to do with their lives. It is a source of limitless power and opportunities. However, it is also a test of personality. A person must have strong moral values and use this power for better purposes. Money should be only a servant and one should be its master, never becoming its slave.

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