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“Money makes the world go round”
Deep within my idealist little soul I dismissed this quote as absurd.
But it is true…somewhat.

Although money does not literally make the earth rotate, nor does it create a sense of fulfillment (I.E. Money can’t buy happiness),
it is an enabler.
A catalyst for many (if not all) things, that Americans have defined as “important.”

Possessions: such as snazzy shelter, a car that affords you transportation (In Miami these are usually Bentleys or some other horrendously expensive abomination) and other little luxuries.

I realized today that, no matter the circumstances one has to spend money to make money. Everything is an investment.
Graduate students are shelling out an inordinate about of cash to nurture careers which they hope (and most likely will) pay off in the future.
Even if you have a scholarship, someone is still footing the bill.
Because there is always, and will always be a bill

But what is it about money that makes it such a force?
When you really consider it, money is just a concept.
A term that awards value to a piece of paper, or to numbers on a bank slip.
If someone who was born in the Amazon and lived there their entire life (and would consequently have no understanding of money) was given a check for a million dollars What do you think they would do with it?
Probably go all MAN VS. WILD and use it to catch a fish. (That was totally a shameless plug because I looooove that show)
So basically what I’m trying to say is money’s true strength lies in:
Collective perception

It’s an abstract creation that is so vital because we agree to give it importance.

Back in the day, money had concrete standing in the world. A printed note was used in place of a gold bar which was used in place of a cow. I suppose this did make the system wildly convenient; cows and gold bars can get heavy after awhile.

But money as we know it today is simply nonsense.
It’s no longer backed in gold…or cows. What do the terms global economic market and exchange rate mean to you? Jack shit. Yet those ridiculous words define how the most important of decisions are made. It is because of this hierarchy of concepts that money permeates every aspect of society.

But money is truly useless in every sense of the word.
Because the things that do matter: knowledge, family, peace (and even not so happy things like sickness, war and death) have always existed
Even in times of debilitating economic recession, even in places that subsist on $1 a day
and even among those who have no understanding of what a dollar bill or a princess-cut diamond is
And will continue to exist.

So the movie Blow was right after all: money isn’t real.

Blow has some pretty good quotes in it.
The “sometimes your flush, sometimes your bust….life goes on” one sounds really clever, but as an optimist I hope when I’m old I don’t confuse sentiments like that with wisdom.

I leave you with what I think this is the better Blow quote:
Life passes most people by while they're making grand plans for it.