The Love Of Money If The Root Of All Evil

Running head: THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

The Love of Money if the Root of All Evil

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THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

The Love of Money if the Root of All Evil

In the modern society, money is the most common form of reward. Greater accumulation

of money, therefore, is viewed as a vindication of an individual’s efforts and contribution to a

particular endeavor. In the last few decades, the theory that the love of money is the fundamental

cause of most evil has increasingly gained legitimacy. Psychological models argue that the love

of money places emphasis on personal contributions and efforts and the expense of collective

achievement. Also, the love of money serves as a self-sufficient motivation that provides an

incentive for people to isolate themselves from others. Therefore, it can be argued that the love

of money gives rise to vises such as materialism which diminishes individuals’ concerns for

others and collective social goals.

The love of money is only the means to an end. Hence, to ascertain the subsequent evils

that result from a high propensity to accumulate money, it is imperative to recognize the desired

objectives. Individuals desire to hold more money to acquire material possessions (Richins,

2017). This gives rise to the concept of materialism which can be viewed as the value placed on

the acquisition of material objects. According to Pandelaere (2016), there is a conflict between

the value of materialism and other life values. While the pursuit of virtues such as integrity and

hard work maximizes social welfare in the society, the propensity to accumulate more money

supersedes individuals’ efforts to adhere to other life values (Richins, 2017). Hence, the love of

money corrupts people’s ability to maintain a value system that improves the greater social

welfare of society.

By nature, money is a limited resource to a vast majority of the population. On the other

hand, there is no limit to people’s desire to accumulate more money (Østerberg, 2016).

Individuals desire to afford both hedonic consumption and utilitarian consumption. Hedonic

THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

consumption can be viewed as luxurious spending; whereas utilitarian consumption is the

purchase of goods and services which have quantifiable advantages to a consumer (Østerberg,

2016). The difference between the two is that expenditure on the former is not dependent on the

level of income, whereas that of the latter is based on income and the social class that one

occupies in the society (Pandelaere, 2016). Consequently, there is an apparent conflict between

the income earned, and the propensity of income to be spent on the two forms of consumption. In

light of money being a scarce resource, individuals abandon social values that would provide a

level ground for the accumulation of wealth. Ultimately, the society ends up being stratified into

different classes with each class making efforts to exploit the other (Østerberg, 2016).

Apart from its economic exchange function, money has a significant social and symbolic

meaning. Psychological theories posit that consumer societies are emotionally attached to

money, and they worship it (Pandelaere, 2016). This asserts that there is a natural love for money

among consumers irrespective of whether there are specific expenditure commitments. The

emphasis among consumers is not the ethical consideration that relates to the process of

accumulating money. Rather, consumers are more concerned with the ability to afford the

purchase the basics and luxuries of life and have excess for emotional contentment (Pandelaere,

2016). Hence, people will engage in unethical and illegal activities provided those activities

serve the purpose of accumulating money. The social meaning of money influence intrapersonal

and interpersonal behavior which is characterized by a disregard for social welfare and emphasis

on personal interest regardless of the social costs that these private interests impose on the

society (Pandelaere, 2016).

To sup, it is apparent that there are inherent human behaviors that result from the love of

money. The belief that the love of money is sufficient motivation for self-actualization and a

THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

vindication for one’s efforts and contribution to a course leads to a negligence of the collective

well being of society. Instead, it provides an incentive for people to isolate others which deepen

social stratifications in the society and places social costs which may not be quantifiable in

monetary terms. Hence, the love of money is the root of all evil.

THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

References

Østerberg, D. (2016). On the Significance of Materialism in Sociology with Reference to

Theories of Social Class. International Journal Of Sociology, 3(8), 47-62.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15579336.1979.11769719

Pandelaere, M. (2016). Materialism and well-being: the role of consumption. Current Opinion In

Psychology, 4(10), 33-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.027

Richins, M. (2017). Materialism pathways: The processes that create and perpetuate materialism.

Journal Of Consumer Psychology, 4(9), 63-78.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2017.07.006

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