The idea that money is the root of all evil or its variant “The love of money is the root of all evil” are a moral assumption many of us have grown up with. It is embedded deep within the mainstream view that most people have absorbed and hold as their own to some degree without conscious consideration or reasoned argument.

The study of money is conspicuously absent from school curricula and it is rarely discussed in the mainstream media. It is not surprising, therefore, that few people understand the roots of the concept nor recognise it’s merit. Then consider that altruism, the creed of self-sacrifice dominates mainstream morality after centuries of religions influence. Consequently many people either feel guilty about having wealth or self-righteous about being poor. Few will admit openly that they are motivated by money, and some go as far as to shun material comforts altogether. The idea that money is intrinsically bad is part of our culture. We all need it, we all use it, and we all want more of it. So is it the root of all evil?

What is money?

If we combine the popular online dictionary definitions of money (referenced below) and factor in our own direct experience, we can see that money is a means of exchanging value. It enables us to buy things, to acquire goods, and to exchange our labour for a stored value that may be exchanged later. It makes trade possible, easily and efficiently overcoming the limitations of barter to mutual profit for both parties.

What is the standard of good and evil?

In order to label something as either good or evil, we must have a standard by which to measure and judge. In other words, what is the standard of good? How do we know what good is? How do we identify evil?

The concepts of good and evil are moral concepts, they pertain to morality, which means what is right and what is wrong. Although morality sounds like a boring subject the truth is the exact opposite. Morality sets out to answer the question how should man act, what should he do? This is what determines the outcome of every life lived. It is the consequences of our choices and actions that make up our life.

Rand asked what is morality and why do we need it? She observed that whatever morality you choose, whether altruism, hedonism, or egalitarianism etc, they all constitute a ‘code of values’ to guide men’s choices and actions. She went deeper still and asked, what are values?

Values, Rand observed, are objects of action. “A value is that which we act to gain and/or keep”. As well as this useful definition she also noted that the concept of value presupposes a ‘to whom?’ and a ‘for what?’ She noted that only living organisms go after values. They seek out the things they need in the face of a choice – life or death. Lets remind ourselves that the most fundamental choice in the universe is existence or nonexistence, and that it only pertains to living things. Matter cannot be destroyed it merely changes its form while its chemical elements remain, but life can go out of existence.

Plants and animals have no power to choose against their instincts or genetic programming – they have automatic guidance. They pursue the values their nature has set for them in order to stay alive, in order to keep that ultimate value that is life.

Men have no automatic guidance and our thinking can be incorrect so we need a morality or code of values to guide us in what is right and wrong. Since no other values are possible without life. It is the genetically antecedent concept of value. Life makes values both possible and necessary. This is why life is the standard of value. This is why the good is that which supports life and the evil is that which undermines or threatens it.

If you want to look into this further I  recommend read...