**TL;DR: Money is not the root of all evil, but the love of money is** As the well-known phrase goes, 'money makes the world go round'. Because of this, money causes a lot of conflicts because it is needed to survive in our society. However, I don't think money *itself* actually is the problem, but our love of money is. Money can be considered evil because it is a [motive that feeds into capitalism] (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137475329_3). Money makes us greedy, and the desire to have more money than we need, and the inequality of the capitalist system could be considered an evil act in itself. Similarly, what you choose to spend your money on may be considered 'good' or 'evil', it just depends on individual perspective. Money is neither good nor evil, it is simply just a medium of exchange.

**TL;DR: Money can act as a vessel by which evil acts are carried out but is not evil in and of itself** While it is undeniable that money may be a source of evil, it is the act of greed that is evil rather than money itself. As greed could be best explained as an act or trait stemming from selfishness, and while greed _is_ in fact evil, it is still not the root to all that is. The root issue is selfishness, coming in many more forms than greed. Selfishness could take shape in any manner of prioritizing oneself, whether that be through greed, emotional manipulation, or any form of disregard for another.

Money is not the root of all evil, a lack of money is. The overwhelming majority of crimes are committed by individuals who lack adequate funds to survive, and so they turn to crime to supplement their finances. The few outliers, such as crimes of passion, ideological crimes, or hate crimes are not necessarily tied to monetary gain, so it is difficult to argue that they are themselves caused by money in any way, and can be safely discarded.

Hitler and Stalin and Mao killed millions upon millions and they didn't believe in money

Power is the root of all evil. Money happens to be powerful.

**Love of money has a powerful effect on most people and perpetuates the biggest problems worldwide.** I think this is basically true. Love of money sustains the biggest evil which is that people live in, and die due to, appalling poverty. - Oxfam recently found that the [world's billionaires have more wealth than 60% of the planet's population](https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/worlds-billionaires-have-more-wealth-46-billion-people). The unfulfilled potential that billionaires have to address so many evils in the world is itself a terrible evil. - It’s not just Jeff Bezos who is affected by a love of money, but people with considerably less. Some studies suggest that people with wealth have [less empathy](https://theswaddle.com/how-money-affects-rich-people/) than people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. I think many would agree that it is easy to get wrapped up in constantly striving for extra 'stuff', which distracts us from what we really value in our lives. - The idea of entitlement around money is very strong. The widespread perceptions that billionaires have somehow done enough to ‘deserve’ how much they own, or that it is your fundamental personal qualities that determine your level of wealth (an attitude much more prevalent among rich people according to [some studies](https://theswaddle.com/how-money-affects-rich-people/)), give us a completely warped and toxic perspective on inequality. The fact that billionaires can ignore global poverty and the literal end of the world in the shape of the climate crisis just to preserve wealth, goes to show that money can cause people to do just about anything.

the quote should be "Love of Money is the root of all evil" money needs to be there to be used not loved, inequalities are what makes money a problem

Money itself is a tool — a medium of exchange with no inherent morality. It can be used for good or ill depending on the intentions of the person wielding it. The desire for money, or greed, is more accurately the root of many evils: corruption, exploitation, and unethical behavior often stem from an unhealthy obsession with wealth, not the existence of money itself. Blaming money oversimplifies the deeper causes of wrongdoing, such as power dynamics, insecurity, or systemic inequality. Countless good things — charity, healthcare, education — also flow from money.