Money
isn't evil, and neither are rich people
Let's
say I buy some canvas-paper and paints. Cheap items, that I can get
in a department store, or even a fancy craft shop. Now, lets imagine
even farther from reality and pretend that I am a talented artist. As
an artist of great skill, I use the materials that I have bought so
inexpensively, and create a great masterpiece, something of great
value. Something fantastic has just been done... wealth has just been
created.
As a
struggling artist, unemployed (not imagination), I put my painting up
for sale. A patron loves the work, and pays a large sum to own it.
Hear me out, this isn't just
money being moved from the patron's account to mine, no, wealth has
been created.
Let's look at another example. Let's say I'm a microchip
manufacturer. I buy truckloads of sand (which is worthless) and by
using the ingenuity of modern science, I turn that sand into a
microchip. This sand has not simply been changed from one
state to another, it has been turned from something relatively cheap,
to something relatively more valuable.
In one final analogy, let's say that I'm unemployed (which would be
accurate to say). Let's say that you ask me to mow your lawn, and I
agree to do it for 40 bucks an acre. I work hard in the sun, and when
the job is done you are happy and pay me my money. You value the cut
lawn more than whatever amount you wound up paying me.
You see the painted masterpiece, the microchip, and the cut lawn are
worth more than the craft supplies, the sand, and the unkempt lawn. In
these scenarios, I have used creativity, intelligence, and hard work
to improve them and make them more valuable. By extension, I have
also made the world a better place by creating value, and therefore
creating wealth. Let that sink in.
Wealth has been created. Money is simply a unit of exchange which
represents wealth. I have provided a product or service, which you
valued, and have benefited society.
Today we talk about those "evil one-percent", but if you
consider what I have presented just now, those evil people may not be
so evil. Maybe they are scumbags in their personal life, but their
personal wealth represents only a fraction of the wealth they've
created and given away to others.
