Money is one of the most powerful tools for enabling cooperation ever devised, perhaps only rivaled by spoken and written language.

Like all tools, mass cooperation through money is a double edged sword. It's behind every war, every genocide, every enslavement. It's also behind every medical treatment, every piece of food in the grocery store, every act of emergency aid.

Without money, yes, we wouldn't have large scale devastation and consciously inflicted suffering. But we would also all still be living in huts and caves regularly dying of dysentery and starvation and would be lucky to see 2-3 of our 12 children make it to adulthood.

> It's behind every war, every genocide, every enslavement.

There are examples of war and enslavement that pre-date minted currency. Non-barter forms of exchange probably allowed for a specialist warrior class to develop though.

Minted currency is a relatively modern form of money.

yup - if you define dangerous as the most people killed by/ in pursuit of it. but money to me, enables greed, which kills

actually, life is what kills everybody in the end. Even those that aren't greedy. But that's kinda useless as a conversation point.

You can also blame physics, and time

Money isn't a substance tho, it's an idea/concept.

I was going to say "gray matter" i.e. the human brain (which is what developed the concept of money among other things).

The main thing about money, Bud - it makes you do things you don't want to do.

https://youtu.be/XCSOsFe42P8?t=95