Importance of Money in the Modern World

Money is an integral part of modern life. We encounter them in all areas of life on a daily basis. And for many people, money can be one of the basic values ??of life. Money plays different roles in the economy and social life. In my essay, I will try to consider the role of money in modern society precisely as the role of a socio-cultural phenomenon. Money forms universal connections between people and the objective world, not possessing any qualitative definiteness, “things that are most distant from each other find a common basis in them and come into contact with each other,” writes G.

Simmel. How long ago these words were written, but now they are no less relevant. Imagine a modern world without money, without any currency. Is such a society possible? The answer is obvious, of course not. If earlier in a traditional society people could do without money, independently producing and consuming food, now in the 21st century this is impossible.

With the development of society, the needs of individuals also develop. People are interested not only in food and clothing, but also in information and various services. It is difficult to imagine the opportunity to receive this or that service in exchange for anything. Yes, theoretically this is possible, but in this case our society would hardly develop and be effective. Returning to Simmel, one can recall his statement “money is the homeland of the rootless”. This means that money allows people to enter into social bonds, bringing them together. The need for money can force a person to resort to certain social connections and actions. Although the need for money as such does not exist. Could there be a need for colored pieces of paper? Not at all. By “need for money” I mean needs that can be met with money. Moreover, money is an indicator of a person’s success. People with a lot of money tend to behave very differently from people in the middle or lower class. In the modern world, money is the very indicator that determines belonging to a particular social class. Today money is the main indicator of social stratification. It was said above that money has the ability to bring people together, to encourage them to enter into social ties. But this phenomenon also has a downside. Money can also alienate people from each other. The presence of money or lack of it gives rise to such feelings in people as envy, pride, hatred, and so on. S. Moskovichi notes that satisfaction with what has been acquired is determined only by the ratio with the losses of the other. It is common for those who are successful not only to feel a sense of superiority over the less fortunate, but also to attribute negative qualities to the latter – stupidity, cowardice, sluggishness, laziness, etc. The most important quality that exists in people thanks to money is greed. And in modern society, this is a very important component of social life. It is greed that prompts people to do not the most pleasant work, to enter into marriages of convenience, to sacrifice personal preferences for profit. N. Zarubina in her article “Money as a Sociocultural Phenomenon: Limits of Functionality” writes that the poor hate the rich, and vice versa, and calls all this – a vicious circle of alienation and hatred, which is based on money. Money can often act as a regulator of relations between people. And this is most relevant in the modern world; in a world where you can get almost everything you want for money. Going back even a few decades ago, when there was communism in the USSR, and it was difficult to get any desired product. Then the problems could be solved by useful links or exchanges. Now the situation has changed dramatically in the opposite direction. We can say that today people are only interested in money. Providing any service or assistance, we count on a certain reward, and in modern society, only money can act as such a reward. Thus, money plays a very important role in the modern world. Without them, society could not develop and function. Undoubtedly, money permeates all spheres of society. Nevertheless, money can still make people greedy, cruel and cynical. Despite all the variety of goods and services that money can buy today, there are values ??that money cannot measure. Such as love, family, health, inner harmony.

Money plays a huge role in the life of a modern person, and their role is growing every year. Some people reduce their whole life to making money, spending all their energy and time on it. These people put money above all life principles, joys, pleasures and moral values. Of course, one can argue with this: money can buy many pleasures. Many, but not all! Fundamentally, money is just paper. Valuable, of course. But, in fact, it is not for this that a person is born into the world, in order to save up these pieces of paper, buy and sell for them.

There are more important things in a person’s life: freedom, trust, friends, children, love, health, joy of life and life itself, in the end. It’s just that most people, absorbed in the pursuit of wealth, do not notice anything around.

Each person has his own view of the world, his own opinion regarding the meaning of life, and he has every right to do so. Adults, especially women, see the meaning of life in raising children. But this is rather a natural instinct, although it is more developed in humans than in animals. But it is not for nothing that they say that a person is higher than an animal, that he is a morally and mentally highly developed being. True, in recent years, with the moral development of mankind, every year it gets worse and worse. Young people have a very distant idea of ??the principles and the rules of etiquette.
freedom … Everyone understands it in their own way. Freedom in thoughts, actions, decisions, feelings. Freedom of the soul. You cannot buy it, it must live in the heart of a person. You can’t buy trust either. Trust, in general, is a very difficult thing – once having lost it, it is very difficult, almost impossible, to restore. As G. Troepolsky said: “Friendship and trust cannot be bought or sold”. I think he is one hundred percent right. And if you think that there are no true loyal friends, then you are simply friends with the wrong people.

Friendship includes not only common pastime, but also trust, mutual assistance, understanding; there is no room for lies and betrayal, for hypocrisy and humiliation. “Only do not forgive meanness, and do not forgive betrayal to anyone – neither beloved, nor friend” – E. Asadov wrote. Friends are with us all our lives: both in sorrow and in joy. But only real friends, and not every person can be a friend, not everyone can understand and appreciate how pleasant it is to help someone close and dear, to support in word and deed, or to sincerely rejoice, without envy, at the success of a friend, a loved one.

I think that a person is born to love and be loved, to give the warmth of his soul, to take care of a loved one and protect him from all everyday troubles and troubles. “To be loved is more than to be rich, because to be loved means to be happy,” wrote K. Tillier. All earthly riches are nothing compared to the sincere love of two people.

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