Money is not wealth. It is an instrument for circulating and distributing wealth. Money is not capital. It is a means of employing capital. Money is only as good as its application or use. A man may thrive by money by one means but not in it, as though a man were a plant and money his proper soil. The man is an inverted tree: the root is upward and the branches downward. Other trees root in the earth and get nourishment from heaven. Man is to root in heaven and draw a partial and temporal life from earth until a season of reversion.[i] Businesses need money to thrive. More precisely, the right use of money makes an enterprise succeed. Same applies to individuals. In order to apply money rightly, one needs a more powerful tool, which is faith. Not just belief in something, but the right foundation for faith determines the success. When one has faith, he or she has the power to convert money to good or more proper or better use. Like everything in this life, man has the ability of transforming it into a source of evil or of good.[ii]

Some people worship money while others don’t. Some think they don’t worship while they unknowingly do. Money is a great tool that can pay bills and make end meet. It is a tool through which one can connect with fellow humans. It helps improve our lives and live in harmony with one another. It is a tool that can open a sea of possibilities on a daily basis. It also brings a great sense of competence to purpose and pursuit of life. It can also bring control to life and life situations. Monitoring and power, when properly applied, are not necessarily bad. Whether we like it or not, every person likes to be in control of something. There is a sense of control evident even in the animal kingdom. A dominant one marks the territory and tries to keep it. Nonetheless, animals learned this trait from humans for sure. Money is a power tool of convenience, connection, competence, and control. At any given time, money can be used effectively in the four areas. Money can come in handy in the form of a tool that can feed the following 4 Cs and can be applied to any individual’s money-related decision.

Tool of convenience

Money is a tool that can bring accessibility to things. The convenience aspect of money is broken into two: 1. Necessities and 2. Added ease.

Money is needed to buy food and things of sustenance. Money can also make life easier by the many gadgets and services we use every day, which is non-crucial. The growing amenities in the present day make one hardly able to differentiate between needs and wants. Better technology keeps driving the quest for better convenience. Whether convenience is consuming or freeing meaningful time is a question for self-evaluation. The positive and negative impact of money can be the balance of releasing versus consuming the meaningful time one has.

Tool of connection

Money can be used as a means to enhance human relationships. Giving a gift or paying a person for a meaningful labor is all part of essential human development and growth of relationships. The human interaction which is the foundation of existence has several facets where money plays an important role. It could be a helpful or caring role of connecting with one another. It can also be a rewarding or an appreciating role that enriches human relationships. It can happen between family members or members of a community or human family at large or even with an outsider or stranger. When a person is in need of something specific that money can be used for, its use has more meaning. Ultimately one has the ability to use money as a tool to connect in a positive or negative way. Money can also allure a person into unnecessary or unfit relationships if not handled with a genuine love for the other person.

Tool of competence

Money as a tool of competence has good and bad extremes which are both obvious in our society today. The good competence energizes the ingenuity in every human. For instance, money as a tool can help develop an apparatus or explore a natural phenomenon through an enterprising activity. Education and learning of useful things enhance competence and thus is a good use of money. The ambition to grow and flourish can also lead to bad competence with one another. Greed for material wealth is venerated as a power of competence in the rat-race of materialism. The good and bad applications of money as a competence tool need to be carefully weighed into every decision one makes.

Tool of control

The proper use of money is its ability to be a tool of protection and security. For instance, securing a facility that is a high target of intrusion takes resources that money can pay off. Housing and shelter is a basic form of good control everyone needs to survive. Keeping control of one’s resources is a responsibility and ensures one from damaging consequences. The most devastating effects of money are the desire for humans, governments, or groups to keep one in subjection to another. The obvious result of this instinct is the cause of wars. Whether it is to gain control or keep one in control, money can be deployed as both a direct or indirect tool.

The article excerpt is taken from Fading Capitalism, Socialism, and True Economy

One of the best words with self as a prefix is self-control. Most of the “self”-prefixed words cry “Me, Me.” The prefix “self” in the word self-control is an exception to it. It is the only word that puts the “self” on the check that wants to be in control.

[i] MONEY: ITS HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY, AND ITS USE AND ABUSE … The Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review (1839-1870); Jun 1, 1850; 22, 6; American Periodicals pg. 612

[ii]AN HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE ORIGIN AND CHANGES OF MONEY, COIN VALUES, … The Bankers’ Magazine and Statistical Register (1849-1894); Apr 1855; 4, 10; American Periodicals pg. 772