Ok, so, I was thinking of posting some of my essays on SEN today, completely open to interpretation and debate by you guys. Most of this particular essay is from my 8th grade civics class, the topic was how you thought about economics. I think I made a very dabatable speech here, I thought almost all of it was very controversial, and I thought it was well written, the grade on it was a 64/60(Though, I'd like to know what you all think). Now, without further adue, my essay (Also, not edited as well as it could be, don't list spelling/grammar mistakes);





Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all. Economics is the science of greed. Those who happen to get lucky keep their money, stay on top, and don’t help those on the bottom. It’s different in all systems, in Democracy its right, in Communism it’s wrong, and in a Monarchy, it’s the divine right of the one who is all the way at the top. Despite their economic beliefs, all are wrong (and on further note, Communism doesn’t even make sense because it has a dictator, and everyone lives in poverty).

The body of economic knowledge is an essential element in the structure of human civilization; it is the foundation upon which modern industrialism and all the moral, intellectual, technological, and therapeutic achievements of the last centuries have been built. Economics is all that keeps modern civilization together, and the only thing which separates it from barbarism and anarchy. The feeling of gain and dominance is essential to human thinking, and it can be exhibited peacefully through economics. Many people get a feeling of worth from making money, from earning something, and it makes them important to others, as a connection to help them out.

Thus, despite greed, corruption, and the wasting away of those who are considered worthless by the rich, economics can be considered a good thing. It helps some people get out that need of domination that they can’t anything else, like video games, debate, etc’. However, it also limits people, the phrase “Money Can’t buy Happiness”, is merely a lie we tell the poor to keep them from rioting in the streets, to keep beggars off of our front lawns, to keep the disadvantaged away from us. It is a wall, along with all other proverbs claiming such ridiculous things.

It is sad to say, but despite what people think, money isn’t the root of all evil. (Religion is, but I won’t get into that.) Money isn’t everything, but in a modern society where everything is based around it, it might as well be. Money controls everything, and in an odd and quirky effect, it is controlled by everything. Despite what you want to think, money controls what you are, what you will be, and what you were. Money controls many feelings; it controls all of them, in fact. It controls what you’re doing, what you can do, and what you will do.

I guess it seems like something new to some of you. You argue that the economy doesn’t control your daily lives. But think about it, if you and your family lived in poverty, would you be wearing those same clothes? Would you be speaking the same way, would you know as much as you do? It does control who you are, some of the more arrogant of us wouldn’t have the same attitudes, we may be grateful, those of us who are snobby would act differently, perhaps more violently, maybe with less intelligence, but compared to the other character traits, who’s to say that’s a bad thing?

Despite all this, I think money is a problem. In a society were money influences who you are, and what you do as opposed to intellect, it means that you cannot advance efficiently, you cannot escape your current bounds to do something else without screwing up what you have already. It’s obvious everywhere and it becomes such a problem that it is not those who are intelligent and worthy who rule us, but those who are dull and dumb. We move along without noticing it, but it’s a problem, gangs thrive on it, world leaders and countries die by it, and the everyday person is brutally ripped apart and crushed by it.

There are examples all around us. Russia, for instance, a country controlled by organized crime, one which has fallen to it’s current state by the poverty, and the money that continues to just barely escape it’s grasp. The Crips, would they really be like this if they could afford a living? What of the U.S? A country that has once been governed by freedom and democracy is almost at its knees in front of economic recession, and the other countries laugh as it falls apart. Economy is something limiting future advancement, something limiting evolution, something limiting Mankind.

So what of a world without it? What of a world in which intelligence ruled, and education was of top priority? What of a world where science is something not limited by groups with a seemingly limitless amount of money and barriers, free to research as they wish, and to forward entertainment, education, knowledge, travel, science, and human existence to the next stage? It is merely a theory, but wouldn’t a world where people were not judged by their wealth, be a better one? Where those with good ideas and creativity can finally be part of the top, and where those who posses no knowledge, or additions finally be on the bottom, instead of ruling and limiting those who posses educations and intelligence. I ask you only to improve the world, and to make it a world devoted to the betterment of mankind, science, ideology, and intelligence, and not to that of money, religion, and warfare, what is your response?

i liked it, my mixed emotions with it... in every instance your right, but your also wrong.

Humans always worship, whether its God, celebrities, clothing, money, or how they look, its always controlling them. The root of all evil is based on your idols and desires. How do you substitute money without creating another kind of money? Money is power but so are abercrombie jeans to a 16 year old girl. Undeniably the rich tend to put down the poor, but the system wasn't designed or meant for this. If you haven't noticed the more money you have, the higher tax rate you have, so because you work hard and make more money you end up covering poor people. Government in the USA actually does opposite what you said. True that many things like the economy revolve around money, but money is supposed to represent work done and earned. So in essence every thing revolves around everybody working, which is what keeps the economy running smoothly not money. Although money seems to determine our lives to a degree, other things out weigh its influence on us. Parents, location, friends, luck, will power, etc... If the crips could afford a living, they'd probably buy tons of crack and heroine get high and sell the rest. Possibly buy a lot of big guns and rob banks. The US economy isn't crumbling, we just loan a shit ton of money out for influence, and so we can trade. Its like giving your friend a deck of cards so he can show you a card trick. Because I'm tired I'll finish on this, would a world without judging people by wealth be a better one? No. If education was top priority then suicide rates would sky rocket, just like Japan. If you don't go to college you go to mines for example, and your a disgrace to the family. If you go to college its a competition to get into the very best one. Sounds stressful. The betterment of mankind is a goal, but really most large scale issues are out of human influence. Psychologically humans like to think they have influence or power even when they don't. Dumb people don't get to the top, can you really give me an example besides Ashton Kutcher and acting isn't intelligence based. You may not know, but George Bush is excellent at playing the political game. That combined with luck made him the president.

Thats all for now. Reply.

You essentially claim that money causes crime, brutality, and inefficiency. However, how can you remove a basic part of society and not have repercussions? What causes people to advance technology? Money is a reward to people and can be viewed as a good thing.

I agree that the economy controls are lives, but that can be a good thing. It keeps people in check, -- the rich depend on the poor for money, the middle class depend on the rich for money and the poor for economic stability, and the poor depend on the middle class for representation and the rich for supplement.


Recession happens for every country -- constantly. For every boom, there is a bust -- some are just more noticeable than others. Economy does not limit advancement, it opens it up. Economics connects the world together and allows them to communicate ideas with one another. Without economics, what would the point be for communication outside your neighborhood?

Your essay veered from topic to topic... First it was all about economics, then it was about how it controls our lives. Then it moved to money is an awful system screwing the poor and helping the rich. Finally it ended with "the world would be better off without money" That sums it all up right? Wow...

First I want to start with this: gov't and economy are set up essentially to take all the money people do hard work for, and they distribute it to all the lazy butts across the world that don't get jobs and don't work because we'll pay for them. My dad makes $100,000+ a year. Do you want to know how much I see of that? Straight from the get go, they cut almost 50% on income tax.(Hilary Crazy wants it to be 75% for my family... Needless to say she's not getting my vote) Then, after that, another 7% or so goes to sales, 10% to car insurance, 15% to home owners insurance. After some more odds and ends of simply taxes, my household runs on 35% of what we started with. Oh, and some of you might say "well it'll be made up in tax returns, right?" wrong. My dad's TOTAL tax return for this year was a whooping $243. That's it! 100,000+ to around 35,000 to take car of 8 people(3 in college). So don't give me that bs that rich don't help the poor or whatever.

This line bothers me because it assumes I, the reader, learned something from that whole greed/poor-rich rant...

The next problem with this essay is, that the whole paper says you can't get to the top if you don't have money, even if you're smart. Sorry to break the news to you, but you don't have to have rich parents to work hard and get somewhere. Innumerable times have I seen this personally, not to count how many celebrities there are/were from the bottom. Starting on the bottom may be a hindrance, but if you really are predestined, or smart enough to be on top, you can get there with some sweat. Thinking otherwise is ignorant.(look at your history)

Finally, the worst paragraph of the whole paper:
It's an annoyance how flip-floppy your whole paper is. The whole thing says that "you can't get anywhere without money, you're nothing without money, people despise you if you don't have money." So this whole paper contradicts that?? "money isn't everything" really?? so pick a side then, come on.

Oh, and that little line about "religion is the root of all evil" is not only way off topic, distracting from the point, superfluous, and arguably inaccurate, it's meaningless as well. This essay wasn't previously about the "root of all evil", and I think labeling "money is the root of all evil" as a common misconception by the average public deserves decent justification at the least.

Why do I get matching results when I google your first sentence? (http://www.google.com/search?q=Civil+government%2C+so+far+as+it+is+instituted+for+the+security+of+property%2C+is+in+reality+instituted+for+the+defense+of+the+rich+against+the+poor%2C+or+of+those+who+have+some+property+against+those+who+have+none+at+all.+Economics+is+the+science+of+greed.&ie=utf-8)

Try doing your own work...?

Now, economy may be made to do the opposite of all I mentioned, but it does what I mentioned. Now, I agree that you'd eventually make something like economy, and you'd need to somehow rid your people of that influence too. Though, your comment about the Crips seems like a serious generality, they aren't all like that, I know one myself, and he honestly isn't like that. About the stress, that's unaviodable in a society where everyone has the ability to get to the top, and somoene lucky is born with a natural advantage. Dumb people do get to the top, and I wasn't reffering to Bush, I'm reffering to people with money, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, alot of celebreties. Now, they aren't the 'top', but when it comes to money, they've got more than their fair share.


Though, that's the point behind this entire argument, while economics currently controls modern society, you obviously can't think to live without it. Now, that's not to say that I can either, but I felt that maybe I should look at this rather radically, from another point of view, seeing as my current ones are typically republican. Now, maybe it does improve society and such, but it seems to me that the Native Americans were much more peacuful, spiritual, and cultural then we are now, and they're a great example of living without a true economy. Of course, they got into wars, and they got into them often enough that you wouldn't really see them as the most peacful of people, though I think they got as close as you can to being how I describe.

Another thing, the recession was to add effect to the argument. Now, while your intelligent to spot it, my teacher was also grading for the effect on my class, and it worked well enough. Now, blame it on current society, blame it on whatever you want, it added great effect to the paper when I read it aloud.

About your comment about communication outside the neighborhood, I think maybe decreasing the focus on economy, based on your argument, would make people communicate more within the neighborhood, correct? And, if this is true, I think that that might be a better thing for some Americans. You see, I know alot of people who barely get to know their neighbors, and alot of us don't really feel the kind of brotherhood you would in Hispanic or African cultures, now, while it's good not to get too serious about that, I think we've drifted far enough away from that that maybe we should try and integrate it more into our society.


Oh, oops, there were a few comments I leave in there for my own viewing, sorry about the religion thing, and also the communism thing. The whole paper was talking about money in general, my thoughts on money, it wasn't professionally written, and I'm not going to use my age as an excuse. Some of the rants were somewhat more extremist than they should have been, and I agree with you about it being much to wobbly, though, while alot of your points are right, and there are some things that should be removed, I decided to go out of my way to make this paper different from everyone else in my class, it gave me room to think, and while it had many generalities, I enjoyed writing it. Now, I do think that some rich people don't help the poor, for a fact I know that one of my friends hates poor people because they live off welfare, and he also thinks that they just go and buy beer and drugs with it. Now, that's a huge generality, and I didn't write the paper just for him, but if he thinks it, then there are always others. Also, I think many celebreties merely donate every now and then to keep the press off their backs, and whose to say you blame 'em? Though, that's not the point, but I think I should just give you some idea for my writing this, and the way I put things.

Its totally fine with me is suppose, it just doesn't really fit the "essay". Since it covered the general topic of "my thoughts on money", wouldn't that be a more appropriate title? lol and, since you mentioned age, what was your age when you wrote this and what is your current age?

What Merrell said. Srsly wtf. Quoting word from word from someone else without a trace of credit given.

ya rly you just stole what adam smith said.

I'd rather not tell you, I'd seem like a bit of a hypocrit if I told you that, I'd rather you think of me as whatever age you want when I wrote this, because it seems to me that people seem somewhat more... sympathetic when age is mentioned.



Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Hang on, I'm pretty sure I have 2 other qoutes that I stole in their, I'll edit this post in a second, but almost all of that is original writing.

Edit: "The phrase “Money Can’t buy Happiness”, is merely a lie we tell the poor to keep them from rioting in the streets" is from a character in Desperate Housewives, though I can't remember which. And...

Edit: "The body of economic knowledge is an essential element in the structure of human civilization; it is the foundation upon which modern industrialism and all the moral, intellectual, technological, and therapeutic achievements of the last centuries have been built" is from an economist I read about in Foreign affairs, though I can't remember his name either.

Sorry about that, if I find anymore qoutes that I stole, or if somoene else finds some (Because I wrote this awhile ago, and I think there were only 3, maybe 4) I apologize in advance. Though, I ask for you not to lock the topic, because what I really want is criticism on my writing, and your thoughts on what was said.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 13 2008, 3:07 am by BAGLES.

Merrell or I would have locked the topic already if we thought it right to do. Don't worry about it and move on with the topic at this point.

Unless you actually plan to try and think outside of what you're used to, there's no point in making a statement like this. There are plenty of systems that work without currency. In fact, currency is only a relatively recent creation of man. If you're looking for examples, look at the barter system (We trade things of equal value, for example I might redo your porch in exchange for you giving me a nice set of speakers), look at communism (everyone receives the same stuff as everyone else), or tribal communities (everyone does their job, and everyone benefits from the work of others). Heck, if you think about it, the idea of currency doesn't make a lot of sense. Imagine trying to convince someone who's never heard of it: "OK, so you, for some reason, try to earn something which is nothing but a symbol for something you could have, but don't actually have?"

I would disagree. Especially down in the States, almost no money is going into welfare. Most of the taxes you're seeing have to do with the war in Iraq.

Even with all those taxes, the US still has a defecit of about a trillion dollars per annum.

@OP: Please, for the sakes of all of us, go ahead and use quotations, but cite them! It actually looks like you've done some work if you have some well placed quotes, but nothing looks worse than when you insert an uncited quote!

I'm aware of all those systems, we created money cause bartering didn't work, if theres plenty of systems that work give me plenty of examples, because I can think of one country that uses the tribal community system whatever its called, and for communism, if everyone receives the same thing than what about the people who deserve more? I don't see any motivation to work harder if i receive the same thing. Money is an easy concept, a piece of paper the government has designated to have a certain value, use it to represent value and buy things.

And I disagree as well. Little "real" money has been put to the war. Our gov't is throwing out the "I O U" card and is planning on repaying later... An awful idea, but thats what a corrupt gov't can do for you...

On a side note, I hate how everyone blames prez bush for all the problems in the war and what not... Little do people realize is he has so small of an executive decision, he really just does what his advisors tell him to... Blame the advisors and boards, not him: he's just a pawn.

Money is made for convenience. The fact that money isn't actually backed by gold is my biggest issue of the whole monetary system... When the gov'st go to crap shoot, and don't worry they're own their way, the only people who will have any power will be those with gold and silver or something to barter like food or goods.