Money has value. This fact cannot be disputed. But what specific type of value does money have? Money has a socially determined value. Money in its physical form does not have any weight but money in social terms carries high value. In its physical form, money has become devalued. Also, as supply and demand rises, the purchasing power of the dollar goes down. Expanding the money supply or creating money out of thin air has also contributed to the loss of the value of money. In addition, the amount of money owed to banks in interest will always exceed the money in circulation and thereby defaults and bankruptcies are literally built into the system.The movie Zeitegeist:Addendum actually characterizes this economic system that we live in today "as a mere mask designed to conceal one of the most socially paralyzing structures humanity has ever endured"(Zeitegeist). So, the value of physical money has become moot and has lead to fractures in the economic system.
However, people around the world still value money in terms of how money can provide for them. Even though money has almost no physical value aside from dollar amounts put on each dollar bill; money as a social phenomenon is undeniable. Money affects society in many ways than one. The money that we hold so dear, in order to buy our clothes, our houses, our cars, pay for daycare and other social services and privileges that we have grown so accustomed to, is actually paralyzing us.
Socially, we have become slaves to money as "there is two ways to conquer and enslave a nation, one is by the sword and the other is by debt"(Zeitegeist). Money is essentially created out of debt that has to be payed back.We do not realize this fact when we deposit a check in a bank or take out a loan. So, over time this debt rises and people are put at a disadvantage. As the movie shows, 1 percent of the population owns 40 percent of the nations wealth. Furthermore, 50 percent of the worlds population lives on less than 2 dollars a day. Even more saddening, 34, 000 children die every day due to preventable diseases because of lack of money to go towards healthcare or basic doctors.
So, money benefits some people and not others. Money has value to those who are in direct cooperation with the banks, lenders, CEO's and businesses, who drive the money supply. Money has a low intrinsic value to those who are not in this 1 percent of the population.To continue, the population that does not sit at the top of wealth is subjected to the abuse of money. The "Economic Hitmen" as the movie describes are those corporations, who want countries to sell their oil, to embrace foreign military aid, privatize everything. accept economic liberalization and sell their industries to international companies. These economic hitman make up a type of "corporatecracy", where individuals who run the biggest corporations essentially control the flow of money throughout the world. Money has a high value to these people because their sole mission is to "maximize profits regardless of the social and environmental cost"(Zeitegeist).
Those people, who are not in direct allegiance to the economic hitmen do not benefit from the money flow. This class of people are subjected to the corruption and inflation in the money supply. Money is thereby of low value because they do not have access to it. Corruption causes for the money to be put in the hands of the greedy. Inflation causes the prices of food, drugs and other products to go up leaving the poor people destitute.
To conclude, money is socially determined. The people, who are socially disadvantaged, do not benefit from the economic system while those who are the top earners benefit heavily from the money supply. The wealthiest people or at least the people making more than 2 dollars a day are in direct cooperation with money. These people see the high value of money is sustaining their lifestyle and livelihood. Nevertheless, the population that suffers most greatly from the fractures in the economic system cannot realize the value of money because they only see the corruption and greed that money brings. But no matter how you look at it, money is in its paper form is essentially devalued whereas money in a social context is of great significance.
