The Soul of Money

Money Doesn’t Change People; People Do

The Amazonian Achuar people provide a “before-and-after picture” of a world without money. Having only recently engaged with an economy beyond their jungle home, they now appear to value money largely as an instrument they can use for conservation of the rain forest.

Although money originally came into being to serve as a tool in the sense that the Achuar use it, today money seems to control the people who make it. Money holds sway over their personal choices and incites them to oppress, harm and even murder one another. Money has become not only a quantifying instrument but also a qualifying one, an end unto itself, sometimes to the exclusion of moral, ethical and spiritual concerns.

Lynne Twist, her husband Bill and their children were living an ever-more-acquisitive and materialistic life when she learned about the Hunger Project. The message of this worldwide effort to feed the hungry plucked heartstrings Twist hadn’t felt since childhood. This appeal to her soul abruptly reversed her decisions about her lifestyle and her perceptions of her priorities. Her family soon changed course, turning outward ...