Exactly, What Has Money Not Killed? Look Around You!
- Vicent Nemeyimana
- April 30, 2018
- Innovation + Entrepreneurship
Every time I go to watch football, read through song lyrics, read through a book, and even analyze the relationships of our generation, of our 21st century, I can easily feel the lack, the poor taste, and deadliness in originality, creativity, talent, and true value in all those industries, and which misfortunes I can, with confidence, attribute to the rise of money and the love for it. And again, I ask; what hasn’t been destroyed by money? Even politics are under the control of money and not the other way around!
Do you remember the football of 1990s to 2008 or so? I mean, do you remember the days of players like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo (of Brazil), Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, and many more? Football then was so exciting. Even the worst players were more creative, showed talent, and inspiration. Whether the team won or lost, we would go home fantasizing about it and excited about the moves and passes that were so magical and beyond usual.
Those days, there were no wasted passes as we know and see them today. Players like Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, Zidane, and many others would squeeze a goal out of even the most awkward passes!
But not today!
Do you think it’s only Arsenal that has fallen? No! It is quiet everyone, every team; football game has declined in quality, show of talent and real creativity at the pitch, and no more emotional inspiration from players to fans and our children. And yet football has risen in terms of money and economics!
Yes, economics calls that growth; the rise of income and consequent expenditure!
Is it football alone that has been rooted of its originality, beauty, and purpose? Not at all! Check out the music lyrics, the scholars and books of our days, the singing and talent of today, and even the leadership of our days, what hasn’t changed? And what hasn’t gone from being true and beautiful to becoming fake, fancy, and non-inspirational? And why? The rise of money and love for it!
Musicians of today just fake everything; the voice, the words, the instruments, the smile, and the videos. There is nothing that is real except the rise in money! If you compare the writings (lyrics) of today’s music with those of the past, you will easily see where we have gone wrong; poor creativity, fake beauty, and being artificial.
Relationships? Friends? Neighbors? Leaders? Church, or rather religion? Who is real? I mean, what hasn’t money taken away from us? Today’s relationships are sour and full of hypocrisy. All for what? Money and property! Everyone is calculating; how do I benefit from this relationship? I wish you knew the benefits being considered here! They aren’t peace, love, friendly support, company, but money and property! Friends of today are friends with benefits. Neighbors of today aren’t the ones of yesterday. And our leaders aren’t Moses and Martin Luther, no, they
are exploiters, only leading for the pay!
are exploiters, only leading for the pay!
Have you analyzed the mindset of today’s entrepreneurs? The question of today’s entrepreneurs isn’t about what can be done to create change and improve lives of people, but what can be done to make money! Am I telling lies? I know you know it; it is what drives most of us, most of you, and you who is reading this; money and property! And so, when they (entrepreneurs) say; we are here to help you, they are actually saying; we are here to make money irrespective of what happens to you. Of course, entrepreneurs do a lot of good things and even improve our lives, but the fact is we (the clients) aren’t their goal; money and property are! And we are all sinners here, I inclusive!
Science and technology of those days of Isaac Newton, of Galileo, of Louis Pasteur, of Darwin, of Alfred Nobel, of Pythagoras, Alexander Fleming, Robert Hooke, or even our Blaise Pascal, and others wasn’t more about money and property than truth, discovery, and better future, and yes, a name! It is even clear from history that many of them weren’t rich (whether in terms of money or property). But not today’s scientists and technologists; their drive is money and property. When money and property increase, their creativity and discoveries decline!
Scientists and inventors of today release destructive unfinished prototypes just for money. Some even produce fake products with fake life span so as to maintain the cycle of consumerism! You don’t know that, do you?
What has money not killed or destroyed? Is it our political system? Is it our education? Is it our health system? Is it our security? Is it our friendship and connectedness? Is it our environment and mother earth? Is it our childcare and parenthood? Is it our justice and social inclusion? Is it our religion? Exactly, what is it that money and the love of it not killed? Tell me.
Of course I am not saying that there are no better things nowadays; I am simply saying that things could even be better than this! I am saying that money, advancement in science and technology can and should do more than they do now. Advancement in science and technology and economic growth would mean or should equate to improvement of people’s lives and more conservation of mother earth and not increased enslavement of common man by the wealthy and strong and dangerous destruction of earth! So where did we go wrong? Money and the love of it!
Is money and love of it the root cause of evil?
And how sure am I that it’s the rise of money and love of it that is responsible for all the mess? The answer is here; “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10, ASV). Maybe you don’t believe in the objectivity and truth of the Bible, and so let me borrow from my star; Charles Eisenstein in his book, Sacred Economics;
“It is said that money, or at least the love of it, is the root of all evil. But why should it be? After all, the purpose of money is, at its most basic, simply to facilitate exchange—in other words, to connect human gifts with human needs. What power, what monstrous perversion, has turned money into the opposite: an agent of scarcity?” (page 24)
In the above book, Eisenstein talks of scarcity in all forms; scarcity of goods and services, of love and true relationships, of sympathy and helping hands, of development of communities and access to human needs, of everything. Sacred economics is my best book for this 2018 (if nothing else happens). Eisenstein vividly reveals how the illusion of money and its value (illusion because money isn’t a real thing; you can’t eat it, wear it, or have it help you.
All the things we need for survival and even for luxury are here with us. The su
rprise is this; how come without money we can’t have them, the things that are already ours? All the answers are in that book.
rprise is this; how come without money we can’t have them, the things that are already ours? All the answers are in that book.
Anyway, back to the point, money, it seems, both to us who believe in the authority of the Bible and even to those who believe in other knowledge sources is the root cause of everything (good and evil).
And the current analysis shows that really money has done us less good but instead harmed us beyond. And do you know why? Because everyone has lost true living irrespective of whether he has it (money) or not. Charles Eisenstein, in his book, reveals that even those with money have no life (the idea that accumulation of money, wealth, and property is source of security is a lie, a serious and dangerous lie; the rich and wealthy are the most insecure people, both in their hearts and in their heads! We shall have time to analyze all this).
Way forward: What do we do then?
It is frustrating always whenever someone points out troubles and tribulations minus sharing insights of what to do about them. And I don’t wanna fall into that class. Charles Eisenstein (one of my greatest drivers and inspirers in this) suggests #SacredEconomics as the remedy and, drawing from his take, I suggest #SacredEntrepreneurship. We need to go back to the true call, the genesis;
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
Achievement of this call won’t be easy without the true change of heart, re-arrangement of life purpose and meaning, and rediscovery of connectedness (both spiritually and ecologically). In our remaining years, we shall concentrate on the practical build up of this concept. Be there as well.
And do you get or understand what that means?
Explaining Genesis 1:28 and forming the ground for Sacredness in entrepreneurship
The problem with mankind has been the separation of sacredness (say God) from the daily life or nature; the separation of self from the rest of the universe as Eisenstein argues! Ultimately, when we look at our self as separate and independent of other entities, we start to care for ourselves irrespective of who is hurt. This is ultimately very dangerous, not to those we hurt only but to ourselves for the reality soon sets in; we can’t exist alone!
At The Complete You ministry, we have written about this concept many times. Try and read these two posts;
Back to the verse in Genesis, God is asking man to conquer the world and nature, work it out in a way that it produces life and harmony wherever there is danger, death, and threat. As explained by Christopher Brown, the Hebrew words for words like subdue and dominion all bring out it positively more than environmental destroyers and profit-oriented entrepreneurs have ever comprehended.
In the Bible, the word Kabash, Hebrew word forSubdue is used in reference to an enemy, a threat, and death (Micah 7:1). And the word radah, Hebrew word for rule or dominion is used in reference to a King, a good King ruling over his people (Psalm 72;8-14).
And so, the above call upon man to subdue and rule over the world is the call to work with nature and produce life where there is threat and death, harmony where is conflict, and at the same time protecting and proving for nature like a good King does for his people. Why am I even hustling with this? Let Christopher summarize or re-quote the verse for us in his words;
“Be fruitful and have children, filling the earth with your life so that you can have power to fight against everything in it that leads to death. Rule with care and fairness over the natural world, over the myriads of My beautiful creatures – from tropical fish to soaring eagles to dogs and cats – every creature that is a part of this living world”. Get the full Christopher’s article here.
Application of Genesis 1:28 to our proposal of sacred entrepreneurship
We thought of Sacred Entrepreneurship as a remedy to bridge the gap between gifts or resources and need without necessarily using money, not at least in the way we do it now. At first (considering the history of money), money was about facilitating exchange (Charles Eisenstein elaborates this so well). Yes, the original goal of money was to connect need and want with supply and resources.
And the above was the true execution of Genesis 1:28; subduing the world and harnessing life where there are threats of lack and death while maintaining the beauty and life of nature itself.
In sacred entrepreneurship, we will focus more on the resources (goods, services, and skills) man needs to live abundantly) and less on money and its interest. Entrepreneurship shall be more about participation in making life better and enjoyable for everyone, and NOT economic growth at the expense of the poor and weak and mother earth. Money will be a tool, not a goal.
The Complete You Ministry was founded for this and it’s through this branch of sacredentrepreneurship that specific projects to address the chronic man’s lack and destruction (both of himself and his talents) that has been due to nothing else but money and the love of it.
NB: We don’t need money, but the resources and things that money buys. How about we directly connected among ourselves and become direct sources for what we need that necessarily first hunting for the illusionary valued money? Think about it.
SacredEntrepreneurship is a branch of The Complete You Ministry
More is coming
God bless you
