Is Money Power?

A popular saying these days is “money is power.” It can in fact be that way. However that is not the only possible power that people can have.

In case of America, money really is power. But that has not always been the case. Atilla the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane did not have very much money; but they were able to conquer places much wealthier than their own home countries.

Is money power? It can most certainly be power. Money may make it possible to create devastating military machines or pay people to go to war. However as we see now with North Korea, it is possible to have powerful militaries without having much money. The same is the case with ISIS.

What really is the source of power? Well there can be any number of them. Muslims believe that power comes not from money but from belief. Certainly if you can get billions of people to agree with you, that can give you all sorts of power. And even if those people are poor, they can do all sorts of things to make their beliefs count in the world.

Jesus and Mohammad did not have much money, but both of them became vastly powerful. So did any number of others in all sorts of ways. Marx was not wealthy either, but for a while his ideas ruled half of the world. Money did end up defeating Communism, but it was not an easy victory. And now the power of money is facing challenge from North Korea and Islam.

Once again, is money power? Once again, it can be. But it is not the only form of power that is there. Conviction, military might and any number of other things can be a source of power as well. Money can be a source of power, but so can any number of others.