Money Games, Gambits and Pastimes

On a previous posting I posed a question about what money means to us and I hope we can find some answers to that.

One of the early money games that I and many others would have played is "the Monoploy." You throw a dice, count your moves, get your $ 200 as you pass go, buy property and charge rent to anyone you lands there.

In real life, the impact of building your wealth and spending it brings out strong and complex emotions. To some people money means security and it is deposited into a bank account. To others it may mean the freedom to spend on shopping and buying other luxuries.

Now imagine a husband and wife at both ends of the spectrum. The anxiety of the husband over his wife's spending is understandable. But the wife always feels unfulfilled if she is unable to spend her money. This constant balancing struggle spills over into conflict, each side accusing the other of irresponsibilty and lack of understanding.

Paradoxically, such attitudes towards money are found in every lifestyle and every profession or business. Ideally, the amount money one spends in a month should be related to one's income. However, some people live beyond their means, whether they have little money or a lot. On the other hand, there are other people who refuse to spend much money regardless of their finacial circumstances.

There are some people who say that " Money is the root of all evil." They may even believe that. There others who rant and and rave that "The Almighty Dollar" has ruined their life in the stock market. Still others scorn and swear that many a businessman has robbed them through treachery and unfair practices.

Money is one of the most powerful motivators of human behavior. Love follows a close second or neck and neck to money as some experts have observed. People rob and kill for money. Others judiously toil their whole life for it. Some see money as a status symbol, others collect it for security. However it may be seen, it has got gigantic power.

Those of you who have seen the epic film "The GodFather"winner of 3 Oscars know how money drives people to violence and societal corruption of everything good that is necessary for a harmonious living. Although not portrayed in such glorious and gruesome manner, the world still has lesser known godfathers playing similar games on unsuspecting victims.

What we know from all this is that money can be used to fulfill hidden ajendas. To find out the magical answer from the ecomomic sector on how best money should be used, let us turn our attention to " The Social Responsibilty Of Business Organizations" and see what we find there. On this, I shall write my next piece.