Visionary Society

THIS MONTH'S QUEST: Money

Money is the life-blood of society. But it suppresses us. It keeps us working at jobs we don’t care about. It stops us from having time to achieve our dreams. We can do better. We can use money to create a more beautiful society.

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Visionary Money Journey

Step 2: Vision (Select one)

Explore

Money dictates how we deal with everything – material, intellectual, and emotional.

Explore this Quest: Money

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Plato

"Aren’t you ashamed that you try to get as much money as possible?"

“I shall never stop practicing philosophy and exhorting you and elucidating the truth for everyone that I meet. I shall go on saying…Are you not ashamed that you give your attention to acquiring as much money as possible, and similarly with reputation and honor and give no attention to truth and understanding and the perfection of your soul?...I shall do this to everyone I meet, young or old, foreigner or fellow citizen, but especially to you, my...

Abraham Heschel

"Destroy the myth that wealth and comfort are most important"

"The most urgent task is to destroy the myth that accumulation of wealth and the achievement of comfort are the chief vocations of man. How can adjustment to society be an inspiration to our youth if that society persists in squandering the material resources of the world on luxuries in a world where more than a billion people go to bed hungry every night? How can we speak of reverence for man and of the belief that all men are created equal without...

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Reflect

"Aren't you ashamed that you give your attention to getting as much money as possible?"

Reflect on Money: "Aren't you ashamed that you give your attention to getting as much money as possible?"

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What kind of work do you do? – Dysfunctional work, such as military, advertising. – Work that limits choice, such as banking. – Areas of obscene profit, such as education and healthcare. – Work that compensates for dysfunction, such as police, therapy. – Creative functions, such as design, writing, art. – Service providers, such as teachers, health care. – Vital functions, such as food.

What danger does money have for you? "There are some callings where [the ambition to get rich] is a dangerous impediment; among these I would include ministers, teachers, lawyers and physicians." Abraham Heschel

What is the meaning of a product or service you have purchased? What is its true cost? "The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run." Henry David Thoreau

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Challenge

Select a just vocation. Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature.

Money Challenge

Just doing your job is wretched (Public action)
Limit your dependence on money.
Reduce the time and energy you spend earning money.
Establish a maximum level of income.
Work for the good.

"This ingenious instrument of material exchange, money, has turned into the only means or the principal means of human communication…Money is the present-day name for the world of the human ego. Money dictates how we deal with everything – material, intellectual, and emotional things." Jacob Needleman
“There is not wealth but life. Life, including all its powers of love, and joy, and of admiration. That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has also the widest helpful influence, both personal, and by means of his possessions, over the lives of others.” John Ruskin

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Vision

Businesses should work for the good. Just doing your job is wretched.

Money Action: Businesses should work for the good. Just doing your job is wretched.