Culture and Money

The necessity of a culture of humanity in economic life

I think most of us agree that our problems are rooted in the culture and that it needs to change. We need a culture of education, for instance, that promotes empathy and independent thinking rather than conformity, arrogance and careerism. We need a healthcare system that is worthy of the name and where what is technically feasible is supplemented by comprehensive information about how we can individually maintain our health, strengthen personal responsibility and society's health awareness. We also see the necessity of a culture of humanity in economic life.

Many think this means rejecting money to create a gift economy. They blame money for greed, power, profit and the repression of human rights. This, however, is mistaking a correlation for causation and represents a profound misunderstanding of the ancient innovation we call money. Money is not a static neutral thing; its essence is an agreement embodied by custom or law. The nature of that agreement is critical to culture. Money and culture are deeply intertwined, thus, the key to changing culture is changing the money.

How a society views money reflects its cultural values. For example, capitalist cultures equate wealth with success, while Indigenous and some religious communities prioritize communal sharing over individual accumulation. Western capitalist societies emphasize individual wealth, while collectivist cultures focus on family or community wealth-sharing.

Money isn’t just an economic tool; it’s a cultural artifact. It influences how people interact, what they value, and even how they define success. Conversely, culture dictates how money is created, spent, and discussed. Understanding this relationship helps explain everything from spending habits to global economic disparities.

The current culture drives pauperism, ignorance, depopulation, and barbarism; we want a culture that increases wealth, comfort and intelligence for all. The current culture drives universal war; we want universal peace. The current global monetary system is based on 'fear of there not being enough to go around' which creates problematic psychological issues. These can be reversed by changing the money from being issued as interest-bearing debt for personal gain to being issued as a permanently circulating asset for public care, the common good. This will eliminate the oppressive nature of debt and eliminate poverty. It can both elevate and equalize humanity.

The war on the world is coming to an end. The current culture is showing signs of fatigue, fracture and collapse making way for a cultural shift. It will require us to come together, a harmonization of interests in loving unification. It will require an open mind as well as an open heart to accomplish this shift in culture which I think is our evolutionary responsibility.