How Money Comes between People - Essay Example

How money comes between people Long ago, I remember reading a quote “Sometimes money costs too much”, out of naivetyor being so inexperienced with the money economy the quote did not trigger any thoughts. It was just one of those catchy thoughts that great minds come up with. Thinking of the quote today brings into perspective so many things and relays so much that I consider the person who conceived the thought not just a great mind but an intellect, an economist at that. The idea of money has everyone on toes. Existence of a reward system has every other person up and running, and the basis of this reward is money. Money is the difference between that person who is sleeping hungry and that one who affords to have his pets on a special diet. In this sense, it is the promoter of inequality. Once inequality checks in, the consequences are unlimited there is anger, dissatisfaction, deception and every other emotion and act that epitomizes dissent. It is at this point that “money costs too much”. This is because it gets to a point where it costs life, peace and relationships. The focus of this essay is on relationships the concern is how money comes between people, how money blurs our sight that we soon forget the emotional, patriotic and sometimes blood bond that hold us together. The essence of this inquiry has been informed throughout the semester, having the opportunity to journalize different experiences regarding money has really brought to the fore the value we place on money. This is because unless we place too much value on money higher than the value we place on our social relations then it would never be possible for money to downplay our relations. Unfortunately, the exposure I have had throughout this course and the materials I have read have brought to the fore the disheartening truth that money has a much greater force, it costs too much. Economically, money is considered a medium of exchange the means through which we are able to acquire different goods and services. Historically, it has not always been represented by coins and notes but at some point gold and other valuable metals were the preferred means of exchange. However, history teaches us that the problem has not been with the nature but on the value placed on these materials. Any material in which extreme value has been placed has thrown people into frenzy they are continually interested in amassing that which has value. The burst of the Mississippi bubble brings this act of desperation and thirst for value into perspective. It depicts the race to hold that which has value and disposing that which has less value. This has been a historical trend, one that has only aggravated over time, the fundamental question is at what cost? The answer may not be as a definite, but it is evident, it is at a much higher cost. Over the past few months I have been able to watch the documentary “inside job”. The film directed by Charles Ferguson traces the root of the financial crises that only became so apparent in 2007-8. However, following the film clearly illustrates that the financial crises had been ongoing for a while. The signs had been there of a slowdown but were largely ignored. The reason for this ignorance is the basis of this study. The crisis was driven by a need to compound on gains made, a need to amass assets that were being speculated to appreciate in value. Given the capital limitation enforced by the market dynamics, people had to borrow and banks, which are also the primary lenders had to lend for speculative purposes and had also to invest in these speculations. In any case, the banks were the first to participate in these speculative ventures. The result was an imbalance between the asset base and money borrowed by investments banks. At the end, the speculative ventures never bore the anticipated results and the banks were left indebted. People who had entrusted their hard earned money had lost their confidence on the very people who represented a chance of higher value. This instance brings us to the first instance where money comes between people, the need to generate higher yields had banks “over leverage” they had thrown caution to the air and had forgotten about their obligations to their customers. To them, the only thing that mattered was the financial gains that would result from these speculations. This was largely self-centered, because irrespective of the profit generated by a customer’s deposit the returns are always pre-determined and are fixed. Thus these monies would not have trickled to the customers, the painstaking customers who burst their back to pile these deposits. At the end of the crisis there developed a deep mistrust between the financial sector and their clientele. This is an example of how money comes between people a relationship which had been steadied over a long time was under siege once one of the parties, the bank, prioritized money at the expense of their client’s well being. In the course of my journal writing, on November 6, 2012 I read about the situation in Spain. Spain is one of the countries that are yet to show signs of recovery since the 2008 financial crisis. The unemployment rate is at 25 percent and the country has witnessed continuous unrest as people oppose the beckoning austerity measures. However, the greatest upset in the issues is in the facts. Spain has around 450 thousand politicians this means that there is one politician in every 100 citizens all these politicians are under the government payroll. This number is far much higher than the German numbers, notably German is the largest and most stable economy in the European region. The great imbalance between the citizens and the astronomical number of politicians is driven by money. In a fair and rational society politicians should be driven by a need to serve, a need to address the variant problems that the electorate have. However, in this case they are driven by a need to satisfy their economic thirst. They watch as the number of the unemployed grows and there are no signs of reprieve (Beblavy? 81). This widens a gap that is supposed to ever grow thin as the ruling becomes engaged with the electorate. This is in a bid to better services and understand that which need to be done to alleviate suffering. It would be expected that the start of austerity measures in Spain would best resonate with the people if these outrageous number of political employees would leave some of these positions or at lest accept pay cuts. Because, unless there is marked response by the ruling the Spanish electorate will continue to demonstrate as they are sure that they remain targets whereas the actual drivers of the crises remain put in their resource draining positions. This again is another example of how money has come between people who would actually be expected to join hands in addressing the common problems facing the economy such as increasing unemployment and the eminent collapse of major banks. Cases referenced here refer to major occurrences of a global scale, however, closer home and in our neighborhoods we all have examples of businesses or unions that were broken due to issues of money or closely related to money. For instance in my journal, I mention the case of a friend whose venture came to an end after they disagreed with the friend with who they were supposed to start off as partners. It is unlikely that people would disagree on money and then the ensuing social bonds remain as intact. This bond will likely be shaken and there may develop a sense of mistrust and insecurity just as we have seen throughout this essay. In summary, money has taken up a very huge part of our humane nature. There are multiple cases of people who have shed their cordial approach, who have lost their character in pursuit of money. This is largely understandable given that everything in this world has a value attached to it. However, it is important that as human beings, as social beings first we must establish a limit to which we can pursue our economic being. We should strive to safeguard our character; we should prioritize our social bond to our economic bond. It has become evident that this pursuit eminently costs more, and even after this “cost” one is never certain that the money they pursue will be raised. Throughout this essay, we have established that money comes between people as was the case with the banks in the wake of the financial crisis and just as is the case with the current Spain crises. It is clear that the upset relations will at some point have to be restored as there is need for concerted effort to help rise out of the unenviable situations. However, this will still come at a great cost and the relations will be “aesthetic” and a genuine level of collaboration may never be achieved. Work Cited Beblavy?, Miroslav, David P. Cobham, and L?udovi?t O?dor. The Euro Area and the Financial Crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print. Read More