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Spending Money: Good or Evil?
By JLP | September 19, 2008
I just read a very thought-provoking post at Living Almost Large called “Is Spending Wrong?”
This lead to a interesting discussions as to whether spending can even be defined as wasteful, sinful, extravagent? … There was “judgement” on the thread that even if you are a multi-millionaire, you shouldn’t be wasting money. That we should live a life of frugality and thrift. I guess that leads to the question then “is spending wrong”?
This is a fascinating topic. I don’t think everybody needs to live a life of “frugality and thrift,” but I do think there is a line beyond which spending IS “wasteful, sinful, extravagent” whether you can afford it or not.
As I commented on LAL’s post, I think most of us are naturally disgusted when we see “wasteful” spending. Of course it’s all relative, but there are some examples - like the $20,000 a night hotel suite or the million dollar antique car or the gold plated toilet - that do and should strike most everyone as wasteful and extravagant. When I see those examples I can’t help but think of all the people that money could have fed or educated or healed or how that money could have helped shape or build a community.
Like it or not, all spending shapes the community for better or worse (which, again, is relative) and that’s why it’s important to be conscious. We vote with our dollars in a capitalist society. What are we voting for when we buy solar panels for the house? What about when we buy violent video games or movies? Golf clubs? Porn? Jewelry? Literature?
Money is just another resource. It’s OK to enjoy it, but at some point it’s “wrong” to waste it. It’s hard to draw that line, and there may be no hard right or wrong answer, but we know this on some natural, gut-instinct level.
We also know it’s “wrong” for somebody to waste time by being slothful and lazy, to waste intellectual capital by eschewing educational opportunities, and to waste food by being gluttonous. Money is no different. Right?
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