Original ideas- 2

 

For each of 12 Mondays from November through January I am summarizing one of my original ideas.

2.  Money is language. Money is not A language like French. Money is language like human speech is language, like bees dancing is language, like birds singing and like deaf individuals signing are language.

Money is language. It has rules, it has grammar and it has a wide range of attributes. There is negative money (a parking ticket) and positive money. It can be used as an incentive and as a disincentive. It can be practiced as a great art or abused in a criminal or profane manner.

I wrote a book in 1974 (with co-author Sally Rasberry) that sold over 100,000 copies and was a bible in the hippie world.  The Seven Laws of Money are in fact laws of money. They can be broken only at personal expense in ways never before described. Laws five and six are that: money cannot be given away nor received as a gift. This is why foundations usually don't reflect the donor’s intent and why trust fund kids are usually a mess. (A fairly good summary of the Seven Laws is here).

The subject of money as language was a chapter in my 1990 book, Discourses. The grammar of money deals with accounting, honesty, reliable repayment of debts and understanding the context in which money is used.  Giving someone a dollar for a cup of coffee can be a generous act, and insult if it was someone's home, an ironic statement or gratitude.  The chapter is here.