In life, there must be a measure of achievement. In ancient society, the achievement was measured by the head of cattle one possessed, by the acres of land he owned, and by the battle, he had won. Among the cannibals by the skulls he had won; very grotesque and cruel indeed. In these examples we find it was never the money that counted in measuring achievement. Instead of money some societies had different measures, for examples, it may be the cowries or even salt. There are areas where the achievement cannot be measured numerically because of the uniqueness of the achievement, for instance, in the case of conquering Mt. Everest or landing on the moon.
However, today it is money. It can command a measure of achievement. If he has a big bank balance he is looked upon as a man of success. How he got them and at whose cost he got them are not questioned.
But the real worth of money is its exchange value. When money was there, of course then too there were transactions. They exchanged one commodity for another, called the barter system in the olden days. If one had a cow he may exchange it for wheat; if one had wool he may exchange it for the finished product. With the complexities of the market and the multiplicity of commodities, barter is not possible. We can’t say it is completely out of fashion for in international trade a kind of barter is still going on. A country exporting wheat may in turn get sugar. A country exporting tin and rubber may import motor cars. But as a measure of value money is the best. As such it has brought many good things and bad things too.
To measure the achievement money is also used as a standard. The achievement of amassing great wealth has to be looked into. Has it come by honest work or dishonest means? This moral side is very often eclipsed by the ostentatious show of the wealth. People are dazzled by the riches, the limousine a person drives, the brilliant gems his wife wears and other items of luxury.
Let us see why it is a stupid measure. How can one get money? Can he get by inheritance, by being the owner of some natural resources e.g. petroleum, good land speculation or having a good market for products?
Still, we want a measure by which other things can be valued. Money is the greatest common factor and the genius who thought of money as such must have been a very brainy fellow indeed. It makes marketing and accounting easy. It is easy to carry. Intangible becomes tangible.
But all is not well with money. The value of money is only relative. It depends on how much a particular unit of currency can buy in the market. Some currencies are backed by good economic strength while others are weak. That is the picture we see today. To decide achievement by money alone is a very poor yardstick.
