Divitiae sunt causa malorum.
(Anonymous)

Pron = dee-WEE-tee-ai soont KOW-sah mah-LOH-room.

Riches are the cause of evil things.

Comment: If I were to poll the 300 or so people who get this proverb each day about their reactions to this statement, I imagine a general disagreement about its accuracy. Some would agree. Some would disagree. And all would have excellent arguments, reasons and anecdotes to support their position.

Christianity has in its scriptures a saying that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Buddhism teaches that attachment to money (or
anything) creates suffering. Neither affirms that money is the cause of evil, and yet, not doubt we could trace some pretty tragic events to riches and some pretty wonderful events to money. ANd this only intimates the evils that could be documented from the lack of money in various situations.

My own view is that riches symbolize power, real energy, real power.
This power is neither, by itself, evil or good. Electricity is neither evil or good, but stepping on a live high voltage power cable is destructive, just as the same cable, properly connected lights my house and powers this computer that I write on. The connection to power and the choices about how to use that connection result in various outcomes.

So, I end up disagreeing with the proverb to say this: it is not the power nor the riches that cause evil things. It is the connections we make to it and the choices we make with those connections that may cause evil or good or neutral outcomes.

How are we connected to money today? What are we doing with it?