Two terms that are often confused in our daily lives are ‘value’ and ‘price’: how much it is worth, as opposed to how much it costs. Missing the clear distinction between these terms, beyond the merely linguistic, is the cause of many of society’s ailments.
Money is not the root of all evil but a useful tool which makes transactions and interaction between different activities possible, an organisation of the rules of barter, or at least, that is what it was designed to be. It is the craving for money for its own sake that has been the cause of many evils in the past, and nothing indicates that this will change anytime soon.
That is exactly where the problem with our society lies. We are no longer happy with the simple pleasures of life but tend to measure enjoyment on the basis of the extravagance associated with their acquisition. The more expensive a gift, an activity, a meal, the happier we are.
In the classical demand and supply scenario, this need to spend creates a demand to earn and, therefore, in order to keep up with the ever-growing price tag, we need to work harder and longer for our money or find creative means to make more and even more.
A bigger boat, a meal in abnormal circumstances, a flashy watch and designer clothing all need to be supported by abnormal earnings. The abnormality can take the shape of being a workaholic or resorting to irregular or even illegal means of making the necessary bucks. Pink Floyd sang “Get a good job with more pay and you’re okay. Money, it’s a gas, grab that cash with both hands and make a stash. New car, caviar, four-star daydream”.
Still, the ‘good job’ may simply not be enough. The more extravagant the expenditure, the more exorbitant the earning needs to be. The word ‘enough’ has been stricken from our vocabulary, because we never seem to have enough, to spend enough or to know when to say ‘enough’.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna spoke about the money plague when addressing the congregation during the feast of St Julian. Referring to Paceville, he described it as “the town where, in order to make money, we ignore the well-being of our children”. Paceville is not, however, the only case where the well-being of our children is taking a poor second place to the accumulation of monetary and material stashes. The whole country is falling victim to this plague.
Money is not the only thing that makes the world go round
The open spaces, countryside and shorelines enjoyed by the children of the past are disappearing in front of the eyes of the children of the present and, at this rate, they will not be there for the children of the future. They have already diminished steadily over time, but these last years have seen an exponential rise in the level of construction, with all possible meanings of the term ‘level’. No wonder Din l-Art Ħelwa felt the need to launch the Stop the Greed campaign.
This greed, so well epitomised by the systemic rape of our environment, converting the little virgin beauty we have left into concrete, pillars and cash, is the result of a lifestyle driven by the bottom line.
It is normal that the business community works and strives to generate money. In a normal country, money is not the only thing which makes the world go round. Public authorities provide checks and balances that prevent the spiralling of the moneymaking machine out of control.
It is, therefore, extremely worrying when these authorities seem to be driven by the same concern for moneymaking as the interests they are supposed to control.
The money bug is contagious, and if and when these authorities become infected, then we really have an epidemic on our hands.
This situation is undesirable and unacceptable. We seem to be unaware of or, even worse, aware of but complacent or resigned to, the great harm that is being done to our society and to our country.
We need to relearn the meaning of ‘enough’ and, in any which way we can, to send a very strong message to whoever is listening that, notwithstanding the trend and drive to have more, to spend more and to build more, enough is simply enough.
Charlot Cassar is a Marsascala councillor and Nationalist Party election candidate.