Money, Money, Money, Makes the World Go 'Round

"'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life,

Trying to make ends meet,
You're a slave to money, then you die..."

~ The Verve

To those who are religious, we pray to God (or to gods, depending on your background; to each his own). We praise Him, and ask Him to bring Peace, Love, and Happiness to our lives and to the lives around us. We put Him on a pedestal and acknowledge Him as a power much greater than ourselves.

To the atheists, we believe in and need nobody but ourselves. Who decides our fates but you and me?--Especially in the United States where the American Dream is so easily achievable.

It seems the general public often searches for someone or something to believe in or to look up to, yet we tend to overlook what should be so obvious to us: We prepare our children to become slaves to money, just as we had been prepared when we were young. This vicious cycle engulfs all of our lives. Money holds our fate; without it's "blessing," we would not survive in our present society, and with it, we could rule the world. Admit it: Money owns us.

Yes, we work hopelessly for money. Your parents raise you in hopes that you not only become good citizens of society, but also that you gain a higher education so that you may earn more money than they had. With money, comes security and happiness. Get a successful job, buy a house, buy a car, raise a family, gain material pleasures, and have your children repeat history. Side advantages like prestige and power of course come along with the majority of successful jobs. This is what is expected of us, and whether you are aware of it or not, that is what you will eventually work towards.

Even as we rebel against society's expectations of striving to be the richest, most prestigious citizens, we are still at the mercy of Money. You want to be free? There's a price that comes with that. You want to travel the world? You want to disappear from the world? You want to SAVE the world? YES, there's a price that comes with all of that.

And in the end, what is money anyway? Realistically, money is the utmost power in society, and we are its bitch.