Friday 14 August 2015

Quote of the Day: On money

"Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your products by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce." (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged)

Discuss.

4 comments:

MarkT said...

Not sure how well that quote stands in the modern era, where money is conjured up by the banking system out of thin air. If we add the qualifier that only money *with value* is made possible by men who produce, then perhaps it still does.

Rick said...

Equally true today, and for all time. Attacking that value for value principle by stealing/inflating/conjuring is a sort of recognition by the thief of the power of money. That 'value for value' can go on being applied while 'anti-value-for-value' factions attack it is still evidence of how firmly stands the 'value for value' ethic. At some point it will give out because math.

The character being quoted had resolved to hurry that process along.

I think that money is not a tool for the parasites, although they seem to be using it too. That's like monkeys using a philosophy text as a blunt bludgeoning tool. They're not actually using philosophy are they?

Richard Wiig said...

The key being "money is made possible". I could steal the hammer from your shed, but it would not be my tool. The moochers and looters don't make it possible. They just steal.

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