Money is kind of important, though, at least to those of us who don't want to depend on a soup kitchen.

Look, money isn't everything. This isn't a video game, where the highest score wins, and you chase points just for points. But money lets you buy things, and some of those things are important - food for yourself and those who depend on you, shelter, healthcare. (But there's a bunch of stuff that money can buy that isn't important, and learning to let go of those things is really healthy.)

So: Money is important, because some of the stuff it can buy is important. That's not going to change any time soon.