Mammonism

In the beginning, there was no money—only barter. I fished, you farmed, she wove. Goods were exchanged directly, each trade grounded in mutual need. Over time, fair exchange ratios between different products were established, for example, two pounds of fish for a foot of cloth, or three pounds of wheat. Yet barter remained inconvenient. You might want my fish, but I needed cloth, while she sought wheat. This mismatch eventually led to the invention of money—a universal medium of exchange that simplified trade.

Initially, money took the form of universally desired goods like salt or cattle. People converted their products into these widely accepted items and then used them to obtain whatever they needed. A pound of salt, for instance, could be exchanged for a foot of cloth, two pounds of fish, or three pounds of wheat—based on the labor embedded in each. Precious metals eventually emerged as the dominant form of money due to their advantageous properties: rarity, portability, durability, and ease of division for precise valuation.

Still, the exchange of physical goods was cumbersome. Since money merely represents value, it did not need to be tangible. Paper—lighter and more convenient—soon replaced metal coins. Later, electronic transactions rendered even paper obsolete, giving rise to digital currency—mere numbers stored on computers and smartphones. Today, these digital figures have become the ultimate pursuit of modern life.

In earlier times, wealth accumulation was limited. Agricultural products couldn’t be stored for long, so trade mostly served daily needs. But money changed that. It could be hoarded, saved, and passed down through generations. Some people soon discovered they could profit without producing or owning anything themselves—simply by acting as intermediaries. Thus trade evolved from a necessity into a tool for wealth accumulation. More and more, intelligent individuals left manufacturing for commerce and finance, profiting by reselling others’ goods or manipulating financial tools like loans, stocks, and speculation. Economic theories like mercantilism, financialism, and neoliberalism argue that markets alone should drive the economy—and that trade and finance were the fastest paths to wealth. This mindset shifts economies from production-based to finance-driven models. This result, known as deindustrialization, carries serious risks: in times of war, embargo, or sanctions, financial systems cannot replace real production capacity.

Trade can be lucrative, but it is rarely fair. Gains for one often come at the expense of another. Employers profit by underpaying workers whose labor produces far more value than their wages reflect. Wall Street thrives on exploiting small investors through complex financial instruments. Insurance companies capitalize on people’s need for security, profiting from low-risk clients. Pharmaceutical firms inflate drug prices; hospitals charge exorbitantly for basic care. I once visited a hospital for a minor skin condition. They referred me to a general practitioner, who then sent me to a lab, and finally to a dermatologist—who diagnosed eczema without even reviewing the test results. The prescribed cream cost $30 and worked. Yet the hospital bill totaled $800.

This way, while the nation's physical wealth does not increase, some people can make a lot of money through unfair trade. This practice undermines the core principle in trade. A fair exchange reflects the equivalent amounts of labor involved in producing the products. Because the exchange ratios of all products are interconnected, when one rises unjustifiably, it triggers a chain reaction of inflation—houses, cars, groceries, services—all become more expensive. The burden falls on working people. In today's America, 63% of the population cannot afford an unexpected $500 bill, while a tiny elite amasses unimaginable wealth from a rigged system.

Greed knows no bounds. Most crimes—whether detected or not—are motivated by money. Even noble professions like journalism, education, and medicine have become profit-driven. Money respects no morality. Those who devise clever ways to exploit others are rewarded; honest workers are left behind. As fairness erodes, so too does the motivation for genuine labor, giving rise to moral decay and opportunism. Once, a single income could sustain a household; now, even two incomes often struggle to maintain the same standard of living. Feminists may hail this as empowerment and equality, but in truth, it more closely resembles economic coercion. As one woman put it: "More and more women work extremely hard to make money now. Society offers us less and less security. Security used to mean commitment—a helping hand crossing the street. Now it means money in your wallet and a fully charged phone. We dreamed of marrying men, only to become men ourselves."

When a society measures success by digital numbers, allows a handful of oligarchs to hoard wealth, permits them to influence laws and policies, grants them legal loopholes and privileges, and exalts them as role models, the outcome is inevitable: a culture obsessed with getting rich quick. Corruption spreads, inequality deepens, and society becomes dangerously divided. Natural resources are depleted, the environment ravaged, and the state turned into a cartel controlled by capital and special interests. Politicians grow ever more corrupt and shameless.

Capitalism—driven by greed and profit—may initially spur economic growth, but it ultimately leads to decay, corruption, and collapse. When an economy prioritizes profit over production, when it sacrifices quality for profit—as Boeing has shown, when it outsources manufacturing to cut costs, when its main components are no longer farmers and industrial workers but bankers, consultants, and lawyers, when its GDP comes primarily from the service and financial sectors rather than production, collapse is not a question of if, but when. Capitalism is the cancer of the modern world, which turns people into slaves to money. When money was invented, no one foresaw it would lead to such profound alienation. How to break free from this vicious cycle remains one of the most urgent questions facing modern thinkers (see America Is in Big Truoble).