Ayn Rand: Money Ceases Means
on Monday, October 10, 2022Meaning of Ayn Rand Money Quote: saying we need to accept that without money, we must deal with human emotions instead. Ayn Rand said:
“Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns–or dollars. Take your choice–there is no other” — Ayn Rand
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In this quote, Rand is emphasizing the importance of money and free market exchange according to her objectivist philosophy. She argues that without money as a medium of trade, people will resort to more primitive and coercive means of interaction like “blood, whips and guns” to obtain what they want or need.
When money is the “root of all good” and the means by which people voluntarily deal with one another, exchanging value for value through prices and wages, individuals remain free and sovereign over their own lives.
But if this monetary system breaks down and money ceases to function as a means of trade, people can become “tools” or slaves to the will of others who control resources and goods. So Rand viewed a free market economy governed by monetary exchange as the surest way to preserve individual liberty and autonomy according to her philosophy.