"Gold is the idol they worship."

"Gold is the idol they worship." 

Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys is a fine writer. Reading Wide Sargasso Sea closely for A Level Literature was a delight and an agony in itself,  here was a female of determined, purposeful clarity whom had a glaring vision to articulate her heart's anguish at her own warped societies. Oddly enough, her voice and frustration at her society became heard. She dealt with several sophisticated themes such as identity, corruption but what was highly contentious and intriguing was her exploration on the impact of money and Gold in her society.

Gold corrupts the mind for the pursuit of gold is almost or always driven by human greed. And greed has never did anybody any good. Moreover, we are increasingly becoming obsessed with the chase - the chase for gold or the Gold Rush. Quantitative standard of living indicators such as HDI, real GDP per capita has been on the rise, more and more countries are developing at an alarming rate. Economies are increasingly becoming more advanced and yet, citizens of developing society are becoming increasingly dissatisfied. The dissatisfaction of our society as a whole is attributed to plenty of different and interplaying factors such as higher standard of living and our terms

But I digress, I like to believe that the major contribution to the discontentment in today's society is our perspective and our consideration of the worth of money.  In other words, we place Gold on the pedestal and forget that gold or money is essentially a medium of exchange for goods and services in a market economy.

Money is an abstract conception, a conceptual tool that was created centuries ago to quantify or to put a value to the good and services that are being traded. It has always been used as a form of exchange of material goods between two individuals. What essentially drives a market economy, in a sense, has always been people's rationale and justification for the exchange of goods and services. Furthermore, Economics addresses its own limitations of being unable to account for immaterial and intangible goods. Hence, money is fundamentally a flawed measure of an economy.

However, the point of contention is not the flaws of money or even the flaws of our economy but the narrow minded perceptions of the society. A functioning society not only constitute the economical well-being, it also constitute the psychological and social make-up of its people. We use an imperfect measure as a definitive tool. We use money to govern our lives - we attempt to put tangible values to objects or simply put, we price an object based on demand and supply forces. Yet in itself, the hidden demand and supply forces are not accounted for. Prices are inaccurate measure for they can only give a tangible value. They are unable to encompass the true value of the object. And ironically, even with all these fixed assumptions and imperfect beliefs, people still grasp and worship it. We forget that success and happiness should not be measured by worldly materials,

I would like to posit that Money does not make the world go round. Yes, money is still important to individuals for it is fatuous to not hold any savings or material wealth. You will still need a reasonable modicum of wealth and worldly goods to survive, be happy and successful. But it is not an end in themselves but only a means.

"Generally those who have achieved great things have from the start been rich or had a sufficiency of the world's goods." Giacomo Leopardi

Ultimately, money is only a mean. When you work harder for money, you sacrifice happiness, quality times that could be otherwise shared with your loved ones. Your material wealth comes at the expense of intangible objects which are as equally significant but unable to account for under the limited measures. A former King of Bhutan coined the "Gross National Happiness" which measured both quantitative and qualitative. In comparison, even during the Medieval times, social well being, cultural, security and mercenary trading or diplomatic and professional ties to other kingdoms are all indicators of a healthy kingdom. A strong kingdom and ruler does not sacrifice one for the other and instead work at building a well rounded kingdom where the "economy", social, spiritual and psychological make up are constantly being improved. In fact, a society must be measured by its happiness. And as individuals of a society, we must be able to constantly reassess and prioritize our own values and definitions of happiness.

Money and happiness may share a relationship but don't let it define your happiness. Define your own happiness. Don't let Gold become your life. Don't be fooled into believing that Money makes the world go round.

You, yourself, the bearer of thoughts and values, make your world go round. You use money as a tool to succeed, to do the things you want, to be happy, not to make it your happiness.

“The problem is not material expansion; it is material expansion in the absence of an equal degree of spiritual growth. And it is a mistake to suppose that it is material progress itself that has damaged our spiritual condition.//It is more accurate—and more practically useful—to see the causality running in the opposite direction. It is the weakness of our grasp of spiritual goods—of our attachment to truth, beauty and goodness—that has rendered material progress unsatisfactory in crucial ways.” 

John Armstrong, In Search of Civilization