Wealth

Since first introduced to humans, money has caused much controversy. There is the notion that money is the root of all evil. Many believe all negative behavior exhibited by people can be traced back to money. There are others, however, who believe that money itself is not evil, but those who yearn for it and use it to do malicious acts. Money is an inanimate object and could not possibly be the “root of all evil”. It the human race that should be blamed for the evils supposedly induced by monetary units.
Humans have 3 basic needs: food, clothing, and shelter. In America, each of these things costs money, therefore the needs of everyone are not always met. This is something that could cause an issue with someone on the negative side of the equation, because they need these things to survive, therefore they need money to survive. Some people resort to begging, and others just accept what they don’t have, but there are always people who will try and get money any way that they can. This is why people steal, and this also causes some people to commit homicides. The yearning of these people for money controls their actions, and, often times, brings about negative occurrences. Although these issues have to do with money, people are still in complete control of their actions. An inanimate object can not be blamed for the actions of living, thinking human beings.
“The rich get richer…” Some people are born with money. Other people stumble upon it throughout life, but the majority of the people in the United States work hard to earn the money that they have, because they know that without it, they would not have much of a life. Unfortunately, a good number of people become overtaken with thoughts of acquiring money corruptly. Others are content with the money that they already have, but choose to use it for evil instead of good. Again, the fault does not lie within the money itself, but within the malicious people and their malicious acts. Even someone unthinkably rich could still yearn for more money, because normal people do not get tired of getting money. But it is people who commit the acts, so it is people who should be blamed for the repercussions.
I do, however, agree with Lapham in his argument that money is unnecessarily flaunted in America, and if you don’t flaunt it, it can be assumed that you don’t have it. This is ironic, because the country that is supposed to be so equal is subconsciously discriminatory of those who seem to not have much money. In other countries, it is not necessary to show on the outside what is in one’s wallet. “In France a rich man is a rich man.” (Lapham). There should be no need to publically announce someone’s wealth. Those who don’t publically flaunt it should not be looked any differently than they would be if they were flaunting it, because you never know all of what is inside of someone’s wallet until you have looked in it.
Money is not a living object, so it could not be to blame for any mishap that occurs. However, the people who deal with money are at fault, because they are in control of their actions. I agree that money is unnecessarily flaunted in the United States, and we are less mature in this way than other countries.