UNITED STATES—We have heard the saying time and time again, “Money is the root of all evil.” However, is that actually true? If I’m looking at the people I know and the family dynamics I have recently encountered, without a doubt, money is indeed the root of all evil. There is no point in us discussing the rich getting richer because that has been America since the dawn of time America. Also at the same time, I’m sick of hearing people complain about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

Guess what? Stop fueling his pockets by purchasing everything from Amazon. Go shop at your local stores and other businesses. This drive to have to have things RIGHT AWAY is one of the reasons Amazon continues to excel while other businesses suffer as a result. Spread the wealth people and you won’t see one person have his or her pockets lined while others continue to struggle.

With that said, what is it about money that just motivates people to do wicked, twisted and illegal things? I mean talk about the Paycheck Protection Program that was aimed to help small businesses during the Coronavirus, but a ton of those funds went to people who did NOT need the money and committed fraud in the process to obtain those funds. It is like c’mon America, why, just why. Making matters worse is I’ve heard all types of stories of people, who spent the money on lavish vacations, items and bills, everything except what the funds were to be used for.

As a result many companies were forced to close their doors, while people were living it large until they got busted. The same applied to people who committed unemployment fraud in hopes of obtaining more money than what they were entitled to and needed. At the core, it all revolved around money. Do people not realize that you cannot take that money with you when you die? Some do, others I don’t think so. However, I think the issue with money is people equate it to power, and to some degree I think that holds true. When you have money you can sometimes flaunt it in a way that gets people to do what you want or people tend to be nicer to you when you have money.

Yes, it’s a terrible realization, but I have seen it. How people with money treat people who may not have as much as them with a nastiness, ignorance and just despicable level of disgust. Having money does not make you better than anyone; you simple just have money. If anything, money exposes people for who they TRULY are. A person’s true self emerges at times with the more money they have, you have givers and you have those who demand. There is no in between with my assessment. You either are or you aren’t.

It just makes one wonder if we were more generous with our money how much better of a society could we truly be? This is not saying just give relentlessly, but we need to do more to help others. Sometimes money can make us self-centered and for some people it is a direct result of that fear of losing what one has worked so hard for. I do believe people who grew up without money, sometimes show a greater appreciation for it, but at the same time that doesn’t mean those who grew up with money don’t understand the plight of those without it.

That is a direct result of great parenting. You have those parents who teach their children the importance of earning a buck and being appreciative of it. Then you have those parents who spoil their children left and right, and as a result they grown into adults who happen to be bratty, entitled individuals and that is hard to shatter. In the long run, we have to understand that money is a tradable commodity. It will NOT last forever, and you need to appreciate it, but don’t allow it to dictate your life and the people around you. If you’re resorting to criminal activity to get your hands on money, you have to ask yourself why, and is there something else I can do to prevent my soul from being corrupted as a result of having more moolah in my pockets?

Written By Jason Jones