For thousands of years people have been working to earn currency to pay for necessities and to acquire luxury goods. Today people work over two thirds of their lives in order to meet a predetermined amount that is barely enough money to pay for necessities, and limits their ability to acquire luxury goods.

Everything in this country revolves around money. If you want to have a place to live, you have to pay rent. If you want to go on vacation, you have to pay for the flight, the hotel, and activities.  Money can be viewed in two different ways and with different approaches on how to obtain it.

One side says that money is an incentive that gives people reason to work hard and become successful. With success, more money will come until you reach a point of wealth and financial freedom. It starts with hard work and dedication. A good education and the right experience will get the job that gives you financial comfort. You can start a business, invest, or win the lotto to obtain the large amounts of money so many people have come to want.

Another side argues that money is the root of all evil. Money can be seen as an incentive for people to rob, cheat, steal, or even declare war. How can something that is supposed to be good for society, cause so many problems? Everything in our country is assigned a monetary value. In order to get an education you have to pay for tuition. Generally, the better the education you receive, the higher the tuition. Gaining experience usually requires getting an internship which pays nothing or knowing someone who can help you get your foot in the door. While in school and gaining the experience needed to obtain that dream position, you still need to have financial support. This support usually comes from close relatives, usually parents. This puts the monetary burden on your relatives which takes away from their financial freedom in order to help you achieve wealth and independence. It takes money to make money. Without money, you can not afford the education or gain the entry level experience needed to become the wealthy mogul you dream of becoming.

Each side has good points. If currency were not an option, how could we exchange services of different value? Maybe use the barter system? It just seems that money appears to be the most logical way to conduct exchanges within a society.

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