Some people might never find themselves in circumstances that would permit them to casually spend immense amounts of money on other people, much less on a regular basis, but there are entire holidays like the contemporary Christmas where people might be expected to spend as much as they can on gifts. At other times of the year, some children might feel unloved if their parents do not buy them what they suddenly, randomly wish for, and still other people might respond to all of this by believing that using money never has anything to do with showing affection for loved ones. In one sense, this is true. Spending money does not necessitate that love is behind it, nor does not having money to spend or being careful with purchases necessitate a lack of love.
Regardless, it is possible for someone to spend money on another person out of love, using the expenditure of financial resources as a way to convey that affection by taking care of a need or by providing a luxury. In this way, they can use what is at their disposal to make life easier for someone they care about or to act in accordance with how they prioritize people over material or economic gain. Money is social construct that, for all of the security, comfort, and nonsinful pleasures it allows access to, is only a means to an end. People, in contrast, precede money, being the ones who create and utilize it and likely being in possession of the divine image, as the evidence for Christianity strongly suggests. Monetary assets can be used in service of others instead of to their detriment, to the benefit of friends, family members, and strangers alike.
Large gifts can certainly be used to express large amounts of love, though of course a smaller gift does not necessarily imply a lesser degree of fondness or passionate attachment. A poor person might buy a family member or friend a gift despite their poverty, and though the monetary value might be small, it is the affection that prompted the gift that can make it a treasure in a sense beyond the financial cost. Even for someone with great wealth, the mere spending of a smaller amount than they could afford to expend would not logically necessitate that they care about the beneficiary any less, although a wealthy person who is not clouded by irrationalism or seized by insecurity should have no trouble parting with money or what money can buy in order to express affection for others.
It does not logically follow from spending money on someone, in spite of all of this, that a person cares about the latter, much less in a rationalistic, moralistic, personal way. A person could spend money on others in an attempt to distract them from some sort of cruel manipulation. For others, they might be in the clutches of the erroneous idea that if they are spending money on someone's behalf, then they must love them no matter what else they do to them or do not do for them. A cold, uncaring person could look to this error to feel better about himself or herself. After all, they assume, there is no need for intellectual, moral, or emotional bonding with them or to fully acknowledge their humanity and individuality. Perhaps a physically or emotionally abusive person might even use this fallacious notion and the actions motivated by it as a way to think less of their real faults.
Spending money on someone is empty without genuine concern for them backing it. That I cannot see into other minds means I could never know if someone else is using financial resources on others out of genuine love, for purposes of selfish manipulation, to act on the belief that spending money for someone is all they really need to do for them. However, every specific person can directly see the contents of their own mind; they can know with absolute certainty that they really do or do not have a dehumanizing, materialistic approach to other people and to the ways expending money can relate to this--or reflect a very different worldview and corresponding attitude. As a means to an end, money can be used to celebrate positive relationships, which are positive and strong independent of money, or to express cruelty and selfishness.
No comments:
Post a Comment