People love buying things. We also love selling things. Every day trillions of dollars changes hands in the marketplace. The massive flow of money is absolutely incomprehensible. All you've got to do is tap just a minuscule portion of that massive money pie and you'll be set for life.
But there's one problem. Many of us believe on a deep level that money is bad. Rich people are evil. Making money is worse than killing baby seals for their fur. How in the world are we supposed to get rich when we've got this internal baggage slowing us down?
Let me help.
First, a note about emotions. Many people have wondered why we evolved the emotions we did. A recent book by a famous economist thinks he's found the answer. According to him, all of our emotions were designed to facilitate trade. Our ability to sniff out cheats, our feelings of guilt when we do something wrong, even when nobody is watching us, and our desire for a fair deal.
All these point to trade, or exchanging things for money, being a very important part in our evolutionary past. Because our emotions are designed to make trade less hostile, and more fluid between people who don't know each other, don't you think it's part of who we are? Doesn't it make sense that part of our purpose in life is to figure out what we are good at, and then sell our service to others?
Second, a note about economics. A long time ago, there weren't very many things. We had some dirt, some caves, and some animals to chase after. That worked out for a while. Then we discovered plants, and that they could be grown. This led to an explosion of society.
Which led to something called the "division of labor." This meant that there was a bunch of different things you could do to make a living. Everybody could find their niche, apply themselves, and make some money.
When this happened, society really took off. Back when societies were first created, there wasn't very much money in the world. Now look how much money there is! More importantly, look how many more things we have! The only way this was made possible was through trade. Thinking of different things to make.
Do people think of different things to make out of the kindness of their hearts? No way. They do it because they want to make money. But they can only make money if they make things that people want. Nobody would buy junk. At least not for long.
A desire for money is not bad. Wanting more money is not bad. When the only way to make money is by being creative and thinking up products and services that other people want, your desire to make cash is helping society grow and become more wealthy. Keep it up.
