RE: This GOD does NOT EXIST
Pleasure cannot be God, because we lose sight of pleasure in exchange for serving Money God. We chase money to buy pleasure but lose sight of the pleasure continually chasing more and more money. Money acts like a drug, we get addicted to it. It becomes our reason for living. In addition we view 'having money' as a virtuous trait, whereas those "without money" are looked down upon; with no consideration to the history or origin of the wealth of those in this Gods favour, and the socioeconmic factors making the world under this God better designed and more favourable towards some.
Pleasure drives us, but we do not worship it like a God. We follow the law of money. We can't live without it. We give up pleasurable pursuits and our time to serve and follow the rule of money.
But, then, isn't the obtaining of money the pleasure, in your scenario? Is it not satisfying an urge? Isn't it pleasing to hold a stack of $100 bills in your hands? I mean, we aren't indifferent to it, right? No, having it scratches an itch inside of us.
Furthermore, isn't masturbating a pleasure? You don't need money for that, nor do most people whom do it get any money out of it, yet millions of people are compelled to do it regularly. Isn't killing an innocent soul a pleasure for a psychopathic murderer? Such a man may have no need for money, at all. Isn't cheating on one's own wife partially a pleasure (perhaps mixed with shame/ guilt/ etc.)? Where's the money in that? It's a lot of filth (sin), but there are no ties to this supposed "root of all evil" that we call "money".
The root of evil isn't money, nor even the search for power, though they're both symptoms of the real culprit. There's something deeper that's pulling the strings - it's the seeking out of internal desires; satisfying the senses - it's pleasure-seeking.
Desire IS the devil, not money. Money is merely one, of thousands of tools, used to scratch that itch. And when one finds out that money doesn't make the itch go away, well, then we might turn to sex, drugs, sky-diving, suicide, etc, etc.
It can be, but often we get caught up and it no longer becomes about the pleaure. Take modern wage slaves for example, many of whom do not earn enough to fully support themselves. There is no pleasure in that. They live hand to mouth. And even on the other side of the spectrum you have bankers and investors who have already made millions/billions. They no longer need money, but keep making it and addings millions to their bank account (which means nothing to them) just because this has become their state of being, their reason for existence. Many do not drive pleasure from it. They are just going through the motions.
Money rewires our brain. It affects us the same way being in a cult would, making us do things that we normally wouldn't if offered enough scrap paper, scrap metal, or digital currencies.
Pleasure cannot be a God, because when we pleasure, we worship ourselves. Money is an external worship, much as how one would worship a God.
For me pleasure is good. I personally cannot take pleasure in knowing someone is getting hurt by my actions, so to chase pleasure in the purest sense is a good and natural thing. We all want to live in each other's happiness.
Desire is a natural driver. Money is an artificial tool, which although isn't real, our brains perceive it to be real. It affects our behaviour and our cultural norms. It makes us more likely to shun those without (calling them, lazy, workshy, scroungers) it, and to believe and follow those who have it. We hold money in high esteem like a God.
Pleasure on the other hand, some people feel guilty about it. And it means different things to different people. Some people chase it, some avoid it.
Money though, we, and our society view it like a God. Our world follows its laws. It is infinite in nature, although only blesses some. We even have churches for money.
An example of how money affects us. Homelessness in UK costs the taxpayer £20,000 per homeless person. It would be cheaper to house them and get them off the streets, but people don't want to go for that because they feel it is unfair, because they would be getting a free ride with money God. It removes our ability to emphasise with each other as humans, instead we just see units of economic work. To not work for money God is seen as a bad thing.
Anyway pleasure/desire is an internal natural driver. In this world money has become the ends instead of the means.
Modern wars are all profit based. Poverty is profit based. Removal of workers rights is proft based.
You make sex, drugs, and sky-diving sound like a bad thing 😊
I completely get your points, but I still contend that the problem is much deeper than currency/ money.
The problems you highlight about money are the external consequences of being ruled by greed, selfishness, pride, arrogance, etc., etc., which are each, themselves, extensions of desire and desire is "trying to scratch the internal itch" (seeking out pleasure).
I'm trying to get to the root problem, here. We all know that money provides us with a perfect display of how ugly and inconsiderate people can be. But let's not be dishonest with ourselves, money isn't causing us to behave this way. The external is a reflection of the internal. It's our own greed and selfishness, which are extensions of our desires, that conceptualized and then gave reality to the concept of currencies/ money. Before that moment had taken place, people behaved just as inconsiderately and selfishly towards their fellow humans.
All our societal problems are internal. Our external issues, things like war and poverty, are only symptoms. Stinginess (greed) is something that is made very visible by money. In part, anger/ violence finds a lot of expression through chasing after profits (greed), as well. However, rape and most hate crimes have no connections whatsoever to money. The real problems of humanity really neither begins nor ends with money. The real issues are in the human psyche and money is only a symptom of it.
Coming back to this question of who the real God is: I'd say it's our unconscious minds which so cleverly represent so many of our faults within this symbol that we call "money", making the problems appear, on the surface, to be something external to ourselves. The problem is that we don't really believe in God, none of us do, IMO. Some of us strongly hope and try to convince ourselves that such an entity exists, but our actions make it clear that we have no conviction in it. So, yes, we worship ourselves and, by extension, those whom we love and care about; hence, our selfish and greedy ways.
I contend that the ruler of our actions is the itchiness that we feel inside of ourselves; these desires which pains us to ignore. Without proper insight into this truth, we stand no chance to correct our errors (the errors of bringing more pain to ourselves by behaving unconsciously, like a slave, to base desires), IMO.
Many people are being given this lesson on themselves by their abuse and/or unhealthy pursuit of money, but millions of others are being taught this lesson by many other means (repeated incarcerations for the same offense, having the same relationship problems leading to the same type of break-ups and toxic relationships, obesity and/ or health issues caused by the same eating/ sleeping habits, etc., etc.). There are a million and one problems aside from those that are highlighted by money usage/ habits. The real problem is that we're too fixated on scratching our internal itch (giving our attention to desires and/or preparing ourselves to achieve our goals) to see the real problem - we aren't questioning the chain and whip systems that have been laid out by our own minds.
I apologize for the length of this. I really didn't intend to make it so wordy.
No problem. I enjoyed reading it.
I don't believe money is the true God, but Money does definitely change and alter our behaviour as individuals and a society. And we do treat it like a religion, giving it symbols, worshipping it, living for it, etc.
I understand what you are saying. The human brain understands desire and fear as psychological opposites. These two rule us and drive the subconscious reasonings behind our actions.
Precisely. I'm trying to point out that it's in our best interests, both at an individual and societal level, to become aware of our "chase after pleasure and run away from pain" habits and to dig deeper into how those two poles (fear and desire) play on our emotions and our decisions.
Most of us are being pushed around by those two things, with little to no feeling of control over our lives. We're living like druggies, craving the next fix, but we can't be happy living like that. Peace comes with stability, not through cycles of depressing lows and euphoric highs.
True. I believe it is important to understand our reasonings behind our actions, to better understand ourselves and each other. And also to maximise benefits, and align interests.
Many people think or belive things without realising why they think or believe that certain thing. For example the fear response causing society and individuals to have a prejudice towards Muslims.
From understanding our drivers, the limitations, and biases placed upon them we can change how we think, feel, and act.