The Difference Between Money and Wealth

MONEY IS NOT WEALTH.

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.  ~Cree Indian Proverb

Have you seen that scene in Zombieland where they’re playing Monopoly with real money?  The truth is that in the real world IT’S ALL MONOPOLY MONEY.  Sure you have to have it to do well in the game, but that doesn’t change the fact that money isn’t real.

Money is little pieces of paper, and entries in a computer.  It is not wealth.  Besides the power we give it, money is completely useless.  If you were stranded on a deserted island money would be of completely no use to you.  Seen from the perspective of the real world, if all the money in the world were to suddenly disappear we could easily print it back up again. 

So what is real wealth?

Cars, houses, roads, farms, factories, schools, are all examples of real wealth.  These are all real things that give a real benefit to many different people.  As long as our economy is focused on producing and maintaining these things then we will continue to be wealthy.

One of the causes of the economic crisis was that our society became focused on creating things of no real value at all.  We became focused on making numbers become larger numbers.  The banks, the stock brokers, and everyone else had confused the issue of money and wealth.  When a house doubles in “value” for no apparent reason this IS NOT a good thing.  When the stock market doubles without a corresponding doubling of wealth of the population, this is NOT a good thing.  The truth is that when all of our prices came crashing down it wasn’t because of a “crisis” it was because they were never worth that much money in the first place.

“We don’t have enough money to …”

Once you understand the true nature of money, you understand the absurdity of the statement by our society that “We don’t have enough money to do XYZ”. 

• We don’t have enough money to solve world hunger
• We don’t have enough money to clean up the environment
• We don’t have enough money to provide healthcare for everyone
• We don’t have enough money for our school systems

Of course there is enough money.  Whether our society, our governments and our corporations are set up in the proper way to allocate that money where it really needs to go is a different story.  We have the money (and if we don’t have it we can print it) to solve all the major problems of the world.  Yet we don’t do it.  I believe this is not because of greed or selfishness, but merely because we don’t understand our own capabilities.

The future of society

It could very well be that the future of society itself depends on understanding the distinction between money and wealth.  As our water systems dry up and become polluted, as our forests disappear, as our planet warms and our neighbors starve will we continue to try to endlessly grow corporate profits because “we don’t have enough money” to solve our real problems.  Or will we wake up?

Money is simply a tool which we use that allows us to create REAL WEALTH.  Where we, as a society choose to allocate our money will determine the future of society.

• Do we spend it on teachers, or on unemployment and welfare checks? 
• Do we spend it on things which pollute the planet or on cleaning up the planet? 
• Do we spend it feeding cows or feeding people? 
• Do we squander it on lawsuits, commercials, and private jets, or do we spend it on things that really make our lives better?

You decide

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