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Money has two aspects： good and evil. But, generally speaking, the evil outweighs the good. What makes money dirty? I think there are three factors.
I would like to look first at simple factors then focus on a fundamental factor.
�� “Materialistic”dirt
・ Everyone uses money, so all money has been touched by other people. My friend could receive coins I paid yesterday. The fact that we can’t know who touched money makes us worry. If my 100yen coins were touched by SARS patients, I would exchange them. Once I found a mother criticizing her child in a coin between his mouth“Don’t put money in your mouth! Some dirty person may have touched it!”These examples are “materialistic”. We can’t wash money, so money is always dirty in this sense.
�� “Emotional”dirt
・The fact that everyone can touch money gives them not only “materialistic”dirt but also “emotional”one . Some elementary school students refuse to receive handouts from class mates they hate. Handouts aren’t themselves dirty in materialistic sense. But class mates give them bad feeling. Readers would think that such examples are childish. But even grown-ups feel as children do.
If my account money is mixed with mobster’s money in a bank, I will feel my account is dirty. If your 1000yen bill was touched by a serial killer, how would you feel？There are many unacceptable persons. We could have money from Kim John Il!
�� “Ethical”dirt
・The above two factors are basic. But ethical dirt has special concerns. First, I would like to mention money itself.
(a)Money characters
・ Philosopher John Locke referred to money in Two Treaties of Government. His opinions are as follow.
��Money makes all of things exchangeable.
��Money is less valuable than goods themselves.
��Money should be durable, light, easy to recognize.
��Money can preserve its value forever.
�� is worthy of remark. We can buy all of things with money. We don’t have to exchange fish with flours. But this factor brings ethical problems at the same time.
(b) exchangeability of money
・ According to Locke, everything has a monetary value. Presidents pay salary to their subordinates as the price of labour. When you send mail to your friends, you pay transportation. Even though money and labour are different, they are exchangeable, because we can value everything with money. It is natural to receive reward for price in business.
But this exchangeability spoils our ethics. A concrete instance of this is mutual help. When I helped my friend move from Sapporo, he made a special meal for me. He thought that he had to reward my help for his friendship. That’s why he showed his appreciate with meal. If he had given me money, I would have refused it and looked down him. It is impolite to pay money as a reward of friendship, because we are measuring it with price. Friendship has virtuous value, but no money price. The fact that I helped him is beautiful, because I didn’t expect him any reward and he didn’t ask me with money. Our relationship enabled me
to help him.
Furthermore exchangeability is harmful to one-direction help like volunteer work. When volunteers try to help someone, we have no need for money. If volunteers received money as reward of activities, it would no longer be volunteer but business. Which is more ethical- volunteer with money or without money? God is respectable, because it doesnt demand money to blessed people. Ethics owe their virtue to sacrifice of appetite.
��Conclusion
・ Money makes everything exchangeable, even friendship, ethical activities, which are originally unexchangeable with money. In the mutual help cases, it is justified to receive non monetary reward like meal, help, but unacceptable to receive money. The virtue of ethics originates from sacrifice of appetite. Money ruins the sacrifice, so it ruins beauty of ethics. This factor makes money dirty. I would like to finish my report by quoting Herderlins poem. “God hates those who don’t try hard .”
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