Few things are more astonishing than a thin piece of paper. A digital number on a screen can also be astonishing. It can decide if we eat today. It can decide if a child gets medicine. It can decide if a society collapses. It is tempting to treat money as natural, like rainfall or gravity. We organize our lives around it. We fear its absence. We often judge our worth by how much we have. But money is something far stranger. It is a belief. It is a habit. It is a collective hallucination we have all agreed to maintain.


To understand money and power, we must see money is not a "thing." It is a relationship. It does not exist like a rock or a tree. It exists more like love, or law, or shame. These things are real. But they are made real only through our repeated acts of belief.


What is money, really? A banker might call it a store of value. A Marxist might call it congealed labor. But in our view, money is frozen trust. It is a symbol. We have all agreed to pretend this symbol is solid. When you use a credit card for a meal, you are not making a physical exchange. You are performing a ritual of collective faith. You believe the card works. The merchant believes the bank will pay. The bank believes you are "good for it." The whole system rests on a web of promises.


This construct is necessary. As practical beings, we need a way to trade energy and time. We cannot always barter chickens for surgery. But there is a danger. The danger is when we forget that we built this system. We mistake the map for the territory. We mistake the symbol for the reality. We start to worship the tool we created. We sacrifice real things for the symbol. We sacrifice human health, ecological balance, and dignity. This is the absurdity of the modern condition. We are ruled by our own invention.


This is where money meets power. In nature, most resources rot. Grain spoils. Fruit decays. Strength fades with age. This natural decay limits how much power one person can hoard. But money is a human invention. It does not rot. It allows for unlimited accumulation. One person can accumulate unlimited claims over the labor and lives of others.


This accumulation creates hierarchy. And as we know, hierarchies often become oppression. Money becomes the battery that stores political power. In a "Mafia State," money is not a neutral tool. It is a weapon. It is used to buy loyalty. It is used to fund violence. We see this in the military's control of Myanmar’s economy. It lets elites avoid the consequences of their actions.


When money is concentrated, it distorts the "Common Good." It changes the public sphere. The public sphere should be where we talk as equals. Instead, it becomes a marketplace. Influence is sold to the highest bidder. It creates a reality where the "Consent of the Lost" is ignored. They cannot afford to be heard.


So, should we reject money? Should we retreat into the forest? No. That is not practical. Even if we dismantle capitalism, humans would still need a system. We need a way to track obligations and exchange value.


Instead, we must adopt a stance of Strategic Agency. We must see money for what it is. It is a tool, not a god.


First, we must practice de-reification. We must constantly remind ourselves that money is a social contract. If it stops serving the Common Good, we have the right to rewrite the contract.


Second, we must redefine wealth. Our idea of "wealth" should not be the accumulation of currency. It should be the accumulation of Agency, Recognition, and Security. A wealthy society does not have a high GDP. A wealthy society has strong political friendship and social safety nets.


Third, we must distribute power. Since money equals power, we must support systems that spread it out. This aligns with federalism and decentralized governance. Local communities should control their own resources. This is like indigenous management of natural resources. Resources should not be taken by a centralized state.


In the end, money is a mirror. It reflects what we choose to value. If we value domination, our money will fund armies and prisons. If we value life, our money will fund hospitals and schools.


The person who chases money as an end in itself is trapped. They believe a symbol has a soul. The Rebel Sage is different. They handle money with cool detachment. They use it to build capacity. They use it to foster solidarity. They use it to ease suffering. But they never kneel before it. They know the coin in their pocket is just a piece of metal. The real power is in the human agreement that gave it value. And agreements can always be renegotiated.