Money serves as a powerful tool created by humanity, acting as the driving force of the modern capitalist society and playing a central role in human life. However, due to the power and influence that money holds, the desire of people to possess it is strong; as long as humanity exists, money will remain a practical issue in life that will continue.
For a long time, money has transcended its simple exchange value, becoming an important means of accumulating wealth and expressing personal abilities and values. In the modern capitalist society, the ownership of money is directly linked to an individual's freedom. It serves as a crucial measure for determining the quality of life.
Money also creates the illusion that if one has money, one can achieve anything desired in some way. However, money cannot be the absolute value of life itself. So, what is the true meaning of money?
In this context, the German sociologist Georg Simmel (1858–1918) meticulously analyzed the inextricable relationship between money and the deep structural characteristics of modern culture in his work "The Philosophy of Money" (1900), revealing the symbolic meaning of money.
According to Simmel, money appears as a crystallization point in modern society, where various value relationships coalesce and become objectified. This means that individual and diverse values are crystallized into one through the medium of money. Beyond the economic means of simple currency, money plays a formal role in collating various values and the contents of 'objective culture'.
We use money as a medium to create countless diverse relationships within society. In this sense, money serves as a significant medium that connects both personal life and culture. Money also has a crucial role in pursuing and realizing one's own worth. So, how do various objective cultures become the foundation of one's subjective culture?
How can we cultivate a mature and desirable culture of money in this society? It seems we must seek it above all in the paths that aid in our development physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, leading us to become a truly authentic person.
