written 3 December 2023
ublished 10 December 2023
While some claim that Christianity is the American religion, our core devotion is really money, and "the love of money is the root of all evil". Of course, the people feeling the evil impact are rarely those making the money. Consequently, we see people with little compassion or empathy gravitating toward positions of economic and political power.
Money is a symbolic concept. While some forms of physical money have limited material value outside their monetary value, these days most money has little physical form at all, existing only as electronic data. Yet, obsession with this money concept is everywhere, as is the destructive impact.
After World War 2, "citizens" became "consumer", to avoid a post war recession, and the advertising economy boomed. But advertising requires making people dissatisfied with their current situation, and then selling them something that will make it all "better", creating a constant need for new things. However, real happiness comes from peace of mind, so joy from having "things" is transient, at best. In 2023, advertising revenue exceeded $300B in the US. Despite the promise of happiness, depression in the US costs over $300B each year, and suicide rates keep climbing.
The entire social media world is dominated by algorithms designed to hold a viewer's attention, while presenting them with strategically selected ads, just to increase revenue. The sites earned over $200B in 2023, but adversely affect viewers brains, with increasing disinformation, social bullying and suicide rates.
Honesty is a casualty of the money obsession. While lying about money transactions is still a crime, lying to enhance a commercial product is common practice. Industry also lies to cover up product defects, sometimes with lethal consequences. The tobacco industry led the way in post war America. After decades of health concerns, scientific evidence began to build in the 50's showing tobacco is lethal. Industry response was to deny everything, criticize the research and the scientists doing the work, and bring court challenges against any attempts to limit their deadly, addictive product. Although smoking rates have declined over time, 480,000 Americans died this year, and industry revenues were over $100B.
The fossil fuel industry has taken a similar path, even using the same PR firms the tobacco industry used. Starting in the 70's serious concerns were raised about the climate impact of fossil fuel emissions. Industry researchers confirmed the problem, but the corporate response was to close down the research, and fund climate denial, using the same playbook as the tobacco industry. The stakes are higher, with annual global revenues over $4T, and insured US climate costs of at least $150B per year, with estimates of externalized health cost in the trillions. As an added bonus, the increasingly erratic climate makes global economic collapse more likely, even risking human extinction.
In the medical industry, Perdue Pharma made millions producing and aggressively distributing opioids, touting their safety, while actually addicting millions and killing over 500,000. In the automotive world, Ford decided against paying for a cheap fix for their Pintos with exploding gas tanks, as it would cost more than settling the death cases in court.
Political corruption is another consequence of the money obsession. After decades with a growing middle class, the Republicans began destroying it, by legalizing political bribery. Nixon appointed a tobacco lawyer to the Supreme Court, which began a program where corporations and billionaires take over the country. In 1976, the Court declared that money is "free speech", injecting a tsunami of cash into politics, making it legal to "buy" politicians. In 2010, the Citizens United ruling declared there was no evidence of corruption, and opened the door for anonymous "dark money" into politics. We now know several Supreme Court Justices have profited for decades from "gifts from friends", and that Court is currently poised to prohibit the government from putting any financial limits on business.
Studies show that a certain level of financial benefit is necessary for a quality of life, but after that point the beneficial increases decline. Yet we are still obsessed with getting "more". Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos (among others) show what happens when a few crazed billionaires are running the show.
The "evil" done is wide spread and socially destructive, and the profits are increasingly concentrated. Will greed destroy us before the climate collapses? Or will humanity mature? The odds are good that those alive today will get to see the thrilling conclusion.
