On Money

With the circle of philosophically minded people there are always those who claim that money is evil pr that those who are rich are evil.  I have never understood this sort of logic.  I am not a rich person nor have I ever had any aspirations to be rich.  I have always thought that the 'wisdom of the Bible' was to recognize that nothing ever lasts on the earth and that for this reason the ancient Israelites were commanded to manufacture a temporary sanctuary made of the flimsiest construction materials and indeed why the modern Israelites are commanded to construct temporary booths at the beginning of the secular calendar.

Indeed the whole idea that religion is 'disproved' by our inability to demonstrate the existence of God is - in my estimation - the least convincing atheist argument out there.  The Jewish religion, as is often noted, is a way of life and God is always understood to be hidden from his people.  Since the starting point of the religion is the occultation of God, the argument that he doesn't exist can't hold any weight.  God can be argued to be something of an abstract idea - 'not being' - as the kabbalists put it which in many ways is compatible with an atheist universe (after all God 'isn't there').

But getting back to my original observation.  According to my understanding, the universe depends on many people out there wanting to be rich.  If everyone simply stopped 'desiring' - wealth or whatever - the whole function of the world would come to a screeching halt.  The philosopher needs to be a unique position of (a) not seeking after riches but (b) having rich people ready at hand to help furnish him with capital to help him continue to carry out investigations.  The world was set up in this way so as to keep him humble and at the same time respectful of the God who remains in his original occultated state.