"Is money the root of all evil?" — Dawn M.
Hardly. Shaw had it right. Lack of money is the root of all evil. Once people get a lot of it, they turn into philanthropists, endow colleges, and send their sons off to be inspiring presidents of the United States.
Money itself — the medium of exchange — is of course this miraculous invention that is as fundamental to economics and prosperity as language is to civilization and culture.
It’s not money that causes evil, it’s desire (whether material or sexual or egomaniacal). Not to knock desire; just to say that a "good" person will not allow it to trample basic notions of fairness and honesty. So it’s perhaps the lack of scruples or conscience that’s the root of all evil. A chemical imbalance, no doubt. One day there will be a pill. Or a patch. (Imagine the money in that!) And the truly evil people will find a way to get everybody else to take it, or wear it, but not them. AND THEY WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD. Except that George Clooney and Nicole Kidman will find those people in the nick of time — I mean WITH JUST SECONDS TO SPARE — and stick patches on them and it will all work out OK.
Trust me on this.
