Most opponents of materialism work for money on the grounds that they can use it to fight the injustices of a materialistic society. But working for money is what materialism is all about. Using materialism to fight materialism is like fighting vice by becoming a prostitute. We can't free the world while we ourselves are still slaves to its economics. (2 Peter 2:19)
Money can be useful, and if finance is available, then by all means use it. But remember that everyone justifies working for more on the basis of the good they can do with it after they get it.
Even tobacco companies argue that they are creating jobs. They assume jobs are more important than the lives their product destroys. When we give our lives to make money, we make the same poor trade. Until we can put aside the chains of fear that hold us in our jobs we can never take up a full-time position in the new order.
In the new order, freedom does not come from gaining more money, but rather from learning to live on less. People who put finance first seldom get around to doing the things they used to justify their greed in the first place.
The new order doesn't need money; what it needs is workers. Our greatest weapon is our message, and we have that, with or without money. John Stuart Mills said, "All it takes to destroy a system is to refuse to buy its products." The product is material security and we won't buy it.
If you want to help the poor, you can (a) work for money and send it to the Third World; or (b) go over and live amongst the poor. "B" sounds like it would add to the problem. But, because the problem is lack of education (not lack of money, which of itself will not create more resources), your presence means more than your money. You can teach people to read or write. You can teach hygiene, and many other skills that we have come to take for granted in the West. And you can do these things without specialised training.
It would be nice if we had a few million people ready to do this. But even without great numbers, we can act personally. The money myth cons people into waiting until they have wealth before they can help. And the political myth makes them wait for an army of volunteers before they will begin. We won't be stopped by either. We all have more than enough that we can do right now without waiting for someone else to do it for us.
We only have one life, so that is all that we are responsible for. Could you be doing more with your life than working in a job to make money?
C'mon, let's get radical!
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