Money = Equality

M

Mushin

Registered Member
We talked about this in one of my classes not too long ago and I was just curious about people's thoughts...

Basically to put the topic briefly, equality in America is not about virtue or the pursuit of knowledge or any inalienable rights but that our equality, our freedom is the ability to make money and get ahead. And that because of this we must deal with the consequences of materialism, a lack of cultural identity and anti-intellectualism. And this is not to say that the freedom and benefits we do have are not wonderful things but is this too high a price to pay?

I for the most part tend to agree with most of the above but wanted to hear others agreements, disagreements and general comments.
 
It seems you're saying the American dream is money = freedom, and not money = equality. Of course, Americans are not really unique among humans, but in the past there has been a perception that America offered more upward mobility for people with initiative. Phrases like "equal opportunity" are involved in the debate as to whether freedom and equality have really come that far in the USA. Whenever economic or political systems claim to seriously change the human condition, it is an illusion. Equality and freedom come from collective empathy and goodwill, and systems most often repress both for expedience.
 
I wish it was just the American Dream that I was talking about. And I agree that freedom and equality should come from collective empathy and goodwill but it seems to me that in America we have substitued these in favor of money. That money is not just the American Dream but that money is American freedom and equality.
 
Hmm. You lost me. Well, maybe you're onto a popular illusion. I'm left humming the old Beatles tune:

I don't care too
Much for money
Money can't buy me love.
 
Someone asked Joseph Campbell, the famous popularizer of the Jungian model, what the mythology of our era is, since (at least in the West) we've forsaken all the traditional myths. His answer was, "Money".

That works on two levels. For one, money itself really is a myth. There's no such actual thing as money, it's just a concept. It exists only because we all agree that it exists. If people stopped offering and accepting money as payment for debts, money would no longer exist.

But more importantly, economics actually has displaced all other philosophies. We analyze everything in economic terms rather than moral, spiritual, aesthetic, etc. Given that paradigm shift, it's no surprise that everything from human life to freedom is evaluated in dollars. That with the higher dollar value is worth more.

So the problem with answering your question is that its scope is too tightly constrained. It's not that money = equality.

Money = everything!
 
Love is more important and family is even more important. You can't buy love and you can't buy a loving family, although I'm certain some here will say that you can. That wouldn't be true loving at all but a contrived family that is bound only by wealth and that doesn't last very long.
 
Mushin said:
I wish it was just the American Dream that I was talking about. And I agree that freedom and equality should come from collective empathy and goodwill but it seems to me that in America we have substitued these in favor of money. That money is not just the American Dream but that money is American freedom and equality.
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How can money give you freedom? You depend so much on it. How can it set you free.

Thanks for recognizing this: "I agree that freedom and equality should come from collective empathy and goodwill but it seems to me that in America we have substitued these in favor of money." That's often not seen...
 
I don't think money = equality, I think it some ways it highlights differences; although this need not be negative. Already in our societies, people get rich for provides goods and services that the society values highly - therefore their wealth is to some extent a measure of their value to that society. This includes artists and other people providing culture to a society, and people helping others to lead fulfilling lives (Dr. Phil!). If lots of other good people aren't automatically rewarded financially for their deeds, perhaps it shows either that they aren't actually good, that society doesn't value them, or that the system is flawed (perhaps helping people for nothing should be banned?).
 
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