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Ron Greenstein's avatar

More than twenty years ago, a friend wrote an article posing the question: What would be the role of money in the “promised” Golden Age of Humanity to come? In this coming age mankind will have experienced a profound inner awakening, each taking to heart in some degree the spiritual Truth of the essential connection that always exists among all beings and things. With this collective “push” there would be launched bold, joyous and creative expressions of brotherly and sisterly feelings of love.

The author offered three possible options in regard to money having a place in the cooperative, harmonious, social arrangements that this new consciousness would foster. I can’t say that I recall the first two possibilities, but they did include a role for the continued use of money, either limited or with a very different attitude and concern would be my guess. The third option, which is the one that he felt, and I agree, would be the most likely was the dispensing of money all together.

There are two main reasons I hold to this view. One is that if we indeed come into the profound collective experience of being all parts of One Family, we would be naturally drawn toward lovingly and dutifully acting as such. Consider how out of place money transactions tend to be between close family relations. Imagine parents keeping track of all the many things they do for their offspring, and at the time of their leaving home to go out on their own are handed an invoice for goods and services rendered.

The second idea is from my friend’s essay in which he offers a figure (I’m not sure of any source, but it sounds as if it could be true) of 70% of all work done in contemporary society serves to directly or indirectly keep track of exchanges of money and who has how much at any one moment. The question arises for me: can this tremendous amount of time and effort be channeled into more wise and practical activities?

Ron Greenstein's avatar

At the very root of our culture’s problems and difficulties lies our collective values. Our attitudes about the world, ourselves and our fellow beings prompts our thinking patterns, desires, and behavior. Here is a test to shed light upon our current attitude and your contribution toward it.

When you hear the term “doing business,” how soon is it before your thinking defines it as “making money?”

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