Humans have been inventors as long as we have existed. From the wheel to the airplane, from the bucket to the modern sewage system, the world that we have managed to build for ourselves serves us well. Each invention knows its place, and we as the inventors know how to appropriately put them to use. This is the case for so many creations, but not money. Money is somehow different. Money, which would never have existed if it weren’t for the imagination of mankind, has managed to become something bigger its very creator – something bigger than it was meant to be.

Money is the source of envy and of pride, a way to show love and a cause for us to hate. It has led men to kill their fellow man, but also has the ability to change a person’s life forever and for the better. It can earn a person respect and has become the metric by which we may measure our self-worth. Money has no intrinsic worth, yet men and women dedicate their entire lives toward amassing more and more of it. Wealth existed long before any modern currency was born, and yet many of us are more concerned with earning money than we are with gaining wealth. Money depends entirely on modern society to maintain its value, and yet it has managed to gain control over that very same society that it is meant to serve. Without society and the value society gives it, money is meaningless, which means in its essence it is worthless. So why dedicate an entire blog to it?

Dollars, Euros, Pesos, Pounds, Ariary, Renminbi and Yen are all the same thing being called something different. They are all a product of the modern-day monetary system. It’s a mysterious existence, but love it or hate it everyone is better off if we understand it.

I have been exposed to many differing views of money. Some people believe it is the root of all evil and want nothing to do with it. Some have plenty of it and are consumed by it. Others have more money than they know what to do with and are entirely bored by it. Some people find it to be a nuisance, whether the money is their own or someone else’s. In addition to all of these experiences of money a vast majority of us are confused by it, and all we know for sure is that we wish we had more of it.

I am determined to put money back in its place – back with its fellow inventions. No one is obsessed with or consumed by the modern sewer system, but we all interact with it on a daily basis and it serves us well. Wheels are fascinating because of what we can do with them. Society depends on electricity but we do not worship it. Money should be no different. Let’s see if we can make sure it never gets out of line in our lives again.