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Money makes the world go ‘round. There are many reasons why people want and need to acquire money. In our society people have to earn money so as to make a living. Money is a vehicle necessary to provide for the means of existence—to support oneself and one's family—to pay the rent or the mortgage on the apartment or house, to purchase food and clothing, to send one's children to school, to invest and increase one's wealth, to save for retirement and old age, to provide for a wide spectrum of recreational activities, hobbies, and fun as one's income allows, and to pay taxes.
Psychologically, money has many meanings. Most importantly it represents an avenue of autonomy and self-esteem. A man or woman who works and earns money to support himself or herself and loved ones will feel better for so doing. It is self enhancing to rely on oneself and not on parents, children, friends, or the welfare state to provide for one's basic economic needs. It is damaging to self-esteem not to be able to do so.
Freud postulated work and love as two cornerstones of human meaning. In many ways money is the currency of both. People work to obtain money necessary to live, to give a structure to their lives and to find a satisfaction in being through interacting with other people. People love one another for similar reasons. Often money is equated with love. The giving of money or the goods that money can buy is widely and perhaps universally perceived as being synonymous with love.
“Money talks,” “money is the root of all evil,” “money makes the world go ‘round.” These adages all point to the relationship between money and power. Money is power. He or she who possesses money has power as well.
Money is a vehicle for power both effective and abusive. In