“So you think that money is the root of all evil? Have you ever asked what is the root of money? 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. … Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money. Is this what you consider evil?
Let me give you a clue to men’s character: The man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it. Run for your lives from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper’s bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another – their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun. …”
Ayn Rand – Atlas Shrugged, 1957
More in The Root Of All Evil?
Even more than the words we choose (Black Friday), money has an uncanny way of revealing the true character of all who touch it. With so many people drowning in debt. With corruption running rampant. With those we look to for leadership showing no leadership at all. Could it be, after stumbling drunkenly into The Great Recession, that mankind has proven itself unworthy of the genuine virtue that money represents?
Money – Get away
You get a good job with good pay and you’re okay
Money – It’s a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I’ll buy me a football team
Money – Well, get back
I’m all right Jack
Keep your hands off of my stack
Money – It’s a hit
Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit
I’m in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
I think I need a Lear jet
Money – It’s a crime
Share it fairly
But don’t take a slice of my pie
Money – So they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a rise
It’s no surprise that they’re giving none away
“HuHuh! I was in the right!”
“Yes, absolutely in the right!”
“I certainly was in the right!”
“You was definitely in the right. That geezer was cruising for a bruising!”
“Yeah!”
“Why does anyone do anything?”
“I don’t know, I was really drunk at the time!”
“I was just telling him, he couldn’t get into number 2. He was asking why he wasn’t coming up on freely, after I was yelling and screaming and telling him why he wasn’t coming up on freely. It came as a heavy blow, but we sorted the matter out”
I want ice water.
I Want Ice Water! 
Strangely enough in the last 48 hours my wife has had a £250 GBP refund from the tax man AND won £110 GBP on the national lottery…
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I wasn’t quite sure what “GBP” meant, but thanks goodness for the Urban Dictionary. It still left me to choose from three options however: Great British Pounds, Girl Bashing Pasher, and Gay Bondage Porn. Falling back on my free and wonderful American education, I’m guessing Great British Pounds. Am I right? 😆
Congrats to the wife! Something tells me that we Americans could all end up with a tax bill due once those idiots in congress are done! 😯
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AS it is not gay bondage porn, you guessed right!
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American Baseball humor:
First baseman to runner at first base: “Got any naked pictures of your girlfriend?”
Runner at first base (annoyed): “No!”
First baseman: “Want to see some?”
😀
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Baseball=rounders+attitude
Duck, inbound, oooofffffuuuuuuu…….
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Speaking of rough play:
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bare fist brawling as well as;
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I’d fight for that! 😆
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Gay bondage porn! Gay bondage porn! I vote for that acronym.
Props on the two Pink Floyd vids. Two of my all-time favorites.
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Don’t tempt me. I’m already working on a post about people trying to rig Microsoft’s new Kinect gadget for virtual sex! 😆
Thanks though. I love Pink Floyd. Money was actually the first song I ever heard by them. I’ve been hooked ever since! 😀
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Thanks for the Floyd … and the Rand quote !! Wish more people were familiar with it !
Ed
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I’m not sure everyone would praise me for linking Floyd and Rand, but that’s just the way my “twisted” mind works! 😆
I wish more people were familiar with Francisco d’Anconia’s great speech as well. Yours was one of only two comments from my original post Ed! Of course, that’s why I’ve linked back to it at the ebd of the part I included here. *hint* *hint* 😀
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Pink Floyd! PERIOD.
As for the Gay Bondage Porn…don’t you love how on subject just flows into another? I mean who would have ever guessed that topic to evolve? I love it!
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Pink Floyd! Pink Floyd! Pink Floyd! 😀
I’ve been amazed more than once at the twists and turns that these comment threads can take. I just wish that I could always be up for the ride! Sorry about my recent lacks in that area. 😐
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Yay, Pink Floyd!
Dig the Ayn Rand quote, too, especially now that I dig into my pockets to find mended holes.
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Pink Floyd is my all-time favorite! You can find an audio-video version of the full text of the Rand quote in The Root Of All Evil? link I provided. 😀
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By the way, I’ve used Pink Floyd music quite a bit on this blog. Selecting them from the Posts With Music dropdown menu will list every one of those posts! 😀
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Great post and very nice accompanying Pink Floyd music.
(I agree with and kind of admire the first part of Rand’s statement. But not so much the second part. People who curse money may very well confuse ‘means’ with with ‘result’. Or ‘instrument’ with ‘user’s conduct’. But that’s the extent of their error. I don’t think such a complaint reflects their immorality at all. I think it shows their belief that the grotesquely unequal distribution of wealth, is void of moral principles. In spite of the original intent or hope for fair trade.)
I vote for DCCP. Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Porn. Bondage or no bondage.
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Hail Gruff, DCCP happens every match?
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Probably, Galloway. But they’re still negotiating about the movie rights.
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Hell, if all the pauses were filled with live porn I’d never channel surf away from the game! 😆
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Thanks Gruff. It appears that everything is better with a little Pink Floyd. Yesterday was my birthday and I’m still a little distracted by the whole “55 in 2010” thing, so I think I’ll pass on the philosophical debate for now. Bring on that DCCP! 😆
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Happy birthday etc, YOUNGSTER.
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You know, I felt that response coming as soon as I clicked on “Post Comment!” Thanks for the laugh. I feel younger already! 😆
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A very happy birthday, IzaakMak ! Good Ol’ 55 huh.
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More likely
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What a nice dream. I really like his voice. 😀
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Clive Dunn was at the top of his game then, playing the oldest volunteer in the BBC sitcom that poked fun at The Home Guard of WW2; aged 48 acting as if 75 years, real character.
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I wish I’d seen some of it. Sounds like the kind of irreverent humor that gets my juices pumping! 😀
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pick a clip
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dad%27s+army&aq=0
ttfn
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My goodness, I’ll have to bookmark the search for later but thanks! This PC is still giving me fits, and it really seems to hate it when I watch a series of videos. I’m sending it in on Monday for one last shot at repair before the warranty expires.
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Man, that was so sweet! I’d only heard The Eagles version before now. Thanks! 😀
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I’m not sure I refer to money as the root of all evil but that’s because I like money; I don’t have any but I do like it. I think character could be in the running for the root of evil, organized religion also should be in the running.
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Your wisdom has been sorely missed around here Bats and, as usual, you’ve seen right to the heart of the matter. As important as it is in our lives, money is still just a tool. It’s only the wielder of a tool that can be judged good or evil. Religion is a tool as well, but that’s a whole other can of worms… 😉
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