Thoughts about MONEY

Money is an interesting topic since most people haven't a clue about what it really is.
We are told that it's a "medium of exchange"; or that "money is the root of all evil".
Actually, you can use ANYTHING as a medium of exchange, and LACK OF MONEY is the root of evil.
The real definition of money is that it's POWER. The more one has, the more powerful they can be. Money can only be used the same way that power can be used. You have to give some of it to someone else to get what you want. The purchasing power of money has no bounds; you can even buy things like health or love with enough money.
It seems as though things keep getting more expensive over time. The truth is that everything costs the same as it always did except for the price of money. As an example; if you took one ounce of gold into the marketplace the day Christ was born and bought as many loaves of bread with it as you could, you'd have X amount of loaves. If you went to the market today and bought as many loaves of bread as one ounce of gold (at today's prices) would by, you'd have about the same number as you had over two thousand years ago.
A lot of people believe that they can become rich by just saving their money. Money has to be active and working or it will deteriorate over time. As an example; if we put money into a savings account and just let it lay there collecting interest, we actually are losing money. Everyone tells us about compounding interest...this is how it really works. The interest that you're paid is always less than the rate of inflation and you are also taxed on the interest paid. So, after your money has layed in the bank collecting interest for a hundred years, its amount may seem greater but its purchasing power is about one third of what it originally was.
I tried an experiment many years ago and tried living without using or having any money. Once I got used to it, I always had food, shelter, clothing, transportation, entertainment, etc. without the usage of money. Money is just a way for the simple man to keep score in this game of life.
There are things that are far more valuable than money...get to know them and have a fuller life.