Money is something that most people desire and seek after. We work hard to earn money so that we can buy the things we need and want. The saying “money can’t buy happiness” reminds us that money alone does not lead to a fulfilled life. However, money is still an essential part of survival and success. Though we cannot literally eat money, it can be used to purchase food, clothing, shelter and other necessities. So who exactly said that you cannot eat money?
The Origin of the Saying
The exact origin of the phrase “you cannot eat money” is unclear. It seems to have emerged as a popular saying during the Great Depression in the 1930s. During this time, many people lost their jobs, income and ability to provide for themselves and their families. Though they may have had money, it became useless in acquiring basic needs when the economy crashed. Bartering and relying on community support networks became critical during this period. The saying reflected the idea that money alone cannot satisfy hunger, if there is no food to purchase.
Versions of the phrase have been used by different authors and speakers over the years. In 1937, poet Langston Hughes wrote in his memoir The Big Sea, “I was out of work and hungry – or thought I was hungry – and I didn’t want to be hungry. You can’t eat money, I learned.” In a 1938 speech, United States Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins said, “We must make sure that earning power shall continue and that people may earn their money. You cannot eat money.” In a 1966 interview, artist Andy Warhol said, “I love money. I’ve always said, ‘You can say anything about me, but don’t say I don’t work hard and don’t love money. You can say anything else about me, but don’t say that because that is something I really love.’ But you can’t eat money, right?” The basic expression has been reiterated many times in popular media and culture.
You Cannot Eat Money When…
While money is crucial for acquiring goods and services to meet one’s needs, there are situations where it falls short. Here are some scenarios where the phrase “you cannot eat money” might apply:
- There is hyperinflation – If a currency rapidly loses value, prices can increase faster than incomes. Money cannot purchase enough food or basic goods.
- There is a shortage of food – During famines and critical shortages, food may not be available for purchase no matter how much money one has.
- There is a breakdown in supply chains – Disruptions in transportation, delivery and market systems can make goods unavailable even if finances are available.
- No one will accept currency – In a bartering economy or situation where financial systems have broken down, money may not be accepted as payment.
- You are isolated – If you are stranded somewhere remote without ability to use money, it cannot help satisfy immediate needs like water, shelter and nutrition.
- You don’t know how to earn or manage it – Simply having money does not guarantee you can effectively budget, save or invest it.
Essentially, money relies on functioning social, political and economic structures and institutions. When these systems break down, money can lose its value.
Money Has Limited Intrinsic Value
Currency represents an abstract store of value that only works when others place trust in it and accept it in exchange for real goods and services. As pieces of paper or metal, fiat currencies have no tangible utility. You cannot eat paper money or coin metal to provide calories and nutrients. In essence, money only has value when it can be exchanged for something else – goods, services, assets, etc. If there are limitations or barriers to exchange, money loses efficacy.
Commodity currencies like gold, silver or other precious materials may seem to hold some intrinsic value as they can be transformed into usable or tradeable goods. However, their market prices also rely heavily on perception of worth and what others are willing to trade for them. The value of commodities fluctuates substantially based on economic factors. So while gold may be more malleable than a banknote, you still cannot eat it or survive on it alone.
Bartering vs Monetary Economies
The division of labor and facilitating exchange through money is far more efficient for economic growth than pure bartering systems. However, in some contexts reverting to bartering may be necessary. For example, prisoners of war held captive with no usable currency have had to barter personal items and labor for goods. Or survivors in a post-apocalyptic world may have to trade tools, skills and commodities to stay alive when paper money loses meaning. Bartering also persists in the shadows of monetary economies – illegal exchanges still occur using goods or non-state currencies when certain transactions are banned or restricted by law.
Advantages of Bartering
- Does not require a trusted, standardized currency
- Allows trade to occur without stable political/financial institutions
- Can access specialized skills and goods not available on a market
- Reduces need for liquidity or ability to accumulate savings
Disadvantages of Bartering
- Difficulty finding exact reciprocal match of mutual wants/needs
- Need for a rare coincidence of wants between partners
- Lack of common unit of account or pricing standard
- Asymmetrical information risks and uneven exchanges
- Cannot easily store value long-term
As with money, bartering relies on having something that others want or need. You still cannot directly eat someone else’s cow or sack of corn in a barter economy – an agreed exchange must occur. And perishable commodities can also lose value rapidly, just like unstable currencies in hyperinflation scenarios.
Money Does Not Equal Resources
Money is not the only kind of resource that humans require to survive. Critical resources like food, water, medicine, shelter, tools and energy may not be purchasable or accessible even if one has adequate finances. Access to sustainable resources is also constrained by factors like:
- Environmental/climate damage may reduce arable land, fish stocks, clean water, biodiversity, etc.
- Infrastructure and institutions may break down due to natural disasters, conflict or instability
- Technology may not enable renewable substitutions or repairs
- Inequality can concentrate ownership of essential resources in few hands
- Geography could isolate groups from transportation, trade or safe migration routes
So while money can enable greater flexible access to varied resources, it cannot replace their physical presence nor the ecological, political and social systems required to sustain them. Even the richest person cannot easily obtain basic needs like clean air, water and food when these resources disappear or become scarce.
You Can Be Rich in Other Ways
Given its intrinsic limits, money should not be the sole pursuit. Consider what else could contribute value and richness to life:
Skills and Education
- Practical abilities to build, create, repair, grow food, raise animals, fashion tools, etc.
- Attained knowledge to better understand the world and human experience
- Wisdom and critical thinking skills gained over time
Relationships and Community
- A family you love, care for and who care for you
- Friends who provide joy, new perspectives and support
- Strong social and cultural connections and values
Good Health and Fitness
- Aging well mentally and physically
- Ability to help others through physical labor
- Pursuing athletic challenges
Purpose and Passion
- Contributing to causes bigger than oneself
- Using your unique talents to create, lead, inspire, entertain, etc.
- Standing for your ethics and principles
This is not to say money has no role in enabling some of the above. But prioritizing money over all else can be misguided. Seeking money as the solitary goal often reflects narrow values and limits imagination. Our lives, relationships and communities can be impoverished – in spite of great wealth – if we overly fixate on pursuing money alone.
Money Does Not Define Your Worth
One insidious aspect of wealth-seeking is that it can tie our self-worth to money. We may judge ourselves and others by net worth and occupation. But no one should be reduced to their bank account or paycheck. Consider:
- Those born into poverty are no less worthy than those born wealthy.
- Caregivers, parents, volunteers deserve great respect though unpaid.
- Wisdom is not defined by assets and degrees alone.
- Difficult but necessary work like sanitation still benefits society greatly.
- Morality and ethics matter more than material success.
Your dignity, value and rights as a human being are inherent – not something money gives or takes away. A society that judges people’s worth by wealth and status is deeply flawed. Wise cultures celebrate diverse contributions and virtues not tied solely to money or occupation.
Money Cannot Buy Fulfillment
Will money lead to happiness and fulfillment in life? Research suggests it can contribute to wellbeing up to a point by reducing stresses and meeting basic needs. But the benefits seem to top out at relatively modest middle-income levels. Higher incomes beyond around $75,000 show weak correlations with increased happiness.
Some reasons money fails to deliver fulfillment:
- We adapt to more money and take it for granted
- It cannot purchase purpose, passion or identity
- Chasing money can displace nurturing relationships and community
- Material excess often increases consumerism, waste and debt
- Endless acquisition does not satisfy; it can become addictive
- Income inequality divides social cohesion and wellbeing
If money could guarantee fulfillment or happiness, we would expect depression, addiction and suicide to be extremely rare among the upper class. But in fact these issues are often pronounced among high wealth demographics. Fulfillment in life requires nurturing values beyond just money. No amount of wealth will save someone from despair if they lack purpose, ethics, compassion, relationships, health, skills, spirituality, etc.
Is Money Really Necessary?
For most individuals, some form of money or bartering will be necessary for survival. However, it is interesting to examine situations where people survive without money or trade. Consider possible examples:
Self-Sufficient Hermits
Hermits and isolated nomads have often survived through gathering wild foods and living simply in nature without money. Though difficult, it demonstrates money is not an absolute necessity for obtaining nutrition, shelter, clothing.
Self-Sufficient Monasteries
Monks and nuns in religious communities like Buddhism or Christianity have traditionally lived from the work of their own hands rather than by trade. Growing their own food, doing their own labor and avoiding money-seeking in favor of spiritual pursuits and offering hospitality.
Communal Societies
Small scale communes, ecovillages, intentional communities have organized to remove money from their own inner systems. Through sharing labor, assets, housing and meals they meet basic needs without price, markets or individual trade.
Families and Friendships
Within households or friend groups, many resources, goods and services are shared without accounting and money exchange. We typically do not barter or pay for meals cooked by a family member or car rides from friends.
Volunteerism
Volunteers offer time, energy, care and other valued services without seeking payment. Much community, charity and nonprofit work occurs without money exchange.
However, most examples still rely on some external monetary system for tools or supplies not self-produced. And membership in these alternative groups relies on circumstances, abilities and temperaments not accessible to all. But still they demonstrate that money is not the only possible basis for an economy.
The Potential Harms of Pursuing Money
Money is a tool; amoral in itself. However, wrongful attitudes and pursuit of money can lead to great harm:
- Greed can turn into selfishness, dishonesty and deceit hurting others
- Obsession with riches can drive addictive gambling, theft or corruption
- Short-sighted exploitation of people and planet in pursuit of profits
- Displacement of social and spiritual values for materialist consumption
- Inequality when some hoard disposable income while others lack necessities
- Destroying health through overwork to maximize incomes and wealth
- Anxiety, emptiness and loneliness that often still accompany great fortunes
Money can enable good outcomes in ethical hands. But money itself will not lead to a just, sustainable or happy society. In fact, our shared social and environmental crises suggest an obsessive focus on money has led humanity astray. We could benefit from re-imagining economic systems, values and priorities with less money-dependence.
Conclusion
While money remains helpful as an exchange tool, we should be wary of over-emphasizing its importance. Money alone cannot guarantee survival, worth, fulfillment or happiness. If we make money our sole goal, we risk corrupting ourselves and degrading our social and environmental foundations. Money enables trade, but life is about far more than trade. Perhaps the saying invites us to focus first on developing knowledge, skills, character, community, purpose and passions. With wisdom, even without great money, we can craft lives of meaning, value and contentment.