Perhaps one of the best, or at the least, most noteworthy passages, in Atlas Shrugged is that of Francisco D’Anconia explaining to Bertram Scutter, who’d uttered the phrase “Money is the root of all evil...”, that money is merely a tool, a medium of peaceful exchange that could not exist without the productive efforts of others. “When you accept money in exchange for your efforts/labors, you do so only on the conviction that you will be able to exchange it for the products of the efforts of others. The trade, by means of money, is the code of men of good will. Money is rooted in the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his efforts...So long as men live together on Earth and need means of dealing with each other, the only substitute for money is the muzzle of a gun.”
That is an profound argument, inside a truly awesome book.
That is an profound argument, inside a truly awesome book.
2 comments:
If money was truly the root of all evil, how can it be explained all the evil that is committed when money isn't even involved in the equation jmk? Many good hearted people in this country have money. If money was the root of all evil, then a case could be made for charities not to accept "evil". Do churches every Sunday collect "evil" through the form of offerings?
Absolutely Tyrone!
Money is THE primary means of peaceful exchange.
As Ayn Rand's character, Francisco D'Anconia put it, "The trade, by means of money, is the code of men of good will. Money is rooted in the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his efforts...So long as men live together on Earth and need means of dealing with each other, the only substitute for money is the muzzle of a gun.”Truer words were never spoken.
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