Obsession With Money: This Is How It Appears In Our Lives
Theoretically, Money is useful because it is a language that everyone understands. Thanks to it, we can understand each other with all types of people, even those with whom we do not share habits or interests, and carry out beneficial exchanges for both parties.
However, as history progresses and societies find new ways to produce all types of goods and services, undesired consequences related to this element of cooperation appear. The obsession with money is an example of this.
If we look at all that number of famous quotes, reflections and mottos that talk about happiness as something that is beyond the economic power that one has, it may seem strange that the obsession with money exists. In life there are many things that can make us feel good: why focus so much on something that in theory is only a means to exchange things? As we will see, there are several causes that explain this.
The association with pleasure
Psychologists long ago discovered something very revealing about human behavior (and, indeed, animal behavior in general). When we associate a pleasant stimulus with an action, in a certain context, we tend to repeat it, even though we are not aware of it. Rationality is undoubtedly a very important element in our daily lives, but its power is very limited, and it cannot change these trends.
For example, in the same way that a phobia of birds can occur when having a bad experience having one of these animals nearby, if we learn to relate pleasure to an element, even if that element itself does not have to provide it to us in another situation, we will want to get back in touch with him.
Taking this into account, Let’s think for a moment about the omnipresence of money. It is an element that is present practically by obligation in the life of any person, but that becomes especially important when carrying out commercial transactions. Except in the case of scams, these are experiences that can produce a lot of pleasure, especially in the case of expensive purchases to obtain products that you did not have before.
We all remember the excitement we have felt at some point in our lives when obtaining products such as cameras, nights in luxury hotels, a car, etc. These are moments when you can experience the excitement and nerves that awaken anticipation. It may even be that at some point in our lives we organize an entire day around making a special purchase.
This is one of the reasons why it makes sense that an obsession with money exists: it is very common for it to be present in situations in which we feel good. But he’s not the only one.
Instability and changes
In theory, obtaining and spending money obeys, or did until recently, obey two different facets of life: the personal and the professional. One earns income in one’s work role, and spends it in one’s personal life, in most cases.
However, with the development of the capitalist mode of production, there is an increasingly blurred boundary between these two areas. For example, it is common to take work home or even work during the holidays. Likewise, schedules, in many jobs, have little meaning, and the possibility of constantly communicating thanks to the use of laptops and smartphones means that many tasks can be carried out almost anywhere.
Besides, there is more instability in work life. The work model based on obtaining a job that lasts several decades has expired, and today it is common to fear keeping a position, or to assume that a job will only last a few years, or even months.
Given this scenario, the obsession with money is nothing more than a symptom of what is happening: the only common thread that structures our daily lives, in the absence of a fixed schedule, is the flow of gaining and losing economic power. As it is common to even spend to be able to work, the economy is seen as something fluid and unpredictable, a part of life that must always be paid attention to. The risk is always there, and that is why there are reasons to think every week about the state of the bank account, even if one has a good economic status, since certainties do not exist.
In conclusion
The obsession with money is an example of how, little by little, the economic and professional has totally entered our mentality when it comes to perceiving things in our private lives. In these times we constantly think like entrepreneurs, precisely because reality is teaching us that everything is for sale and that everything can put at risk what we took for granted.
