Mike Maloney -- A Warning For Americans - Is Money The Root Of All Evil?

Money is the root of all evil like guns are the root of all murders like books are the root of all philosophy like art is the root of all creativity like machines are the root of all ingenuity. Only those who are evil have a motive to hide the human component, the only component where evil can take root.



Is money the root of all evil? In answer to that question, I had originally intended to set a world record for the 'World's Shortest Article' and simply write 'NO!', then add the video, and post it to the interweb. But that would be far too lazy, and this is far too important. Plus there's a great story behind this weeks post, so allow me to set the scene: Start by imagining you are in our main office...

Welcome to our weekly company meeting. Like most businesses, each week we have a scheduled time where staff from all departments meet and report on what they achieved during the past week, as well as what will be happening in the near future. For us, this happens every Friday afternoon. It's the only time during the week when the phones are predictably quieter, a handy result of being located on the West Coast and marching to the tune of an East Coast market close. It's nice to catch up with everybody, sometimes we have several laptops out with team members Skyping in from all corners of the globe. There will usually be a birthday or two to celebrate-- so it's also a fantastic excuse to eat some cake and chocolate dipped strawberries if that's your kind of thing. It certainly does the trick for me!

At these weekly meetings our CEO, Mike Maloney, usually reads something to the team. It could be a current news item, or something that he has been working on for his new book. But most often, it will be a short snippet of wisdom from something Mike has found to be inspirational (A book called 'The Traveller's Gift' makes regular appearances -- Mike insists that our HR people hand out a copy to each new employee). It's always fun, and Mike gets a buzz from it because just 15 years ago, he would not have been capable of reading anything to any audience. If you've seen Episode 3 of Hidden Secrets Of Money you'll already know that Mike is dyslexic, but has managed to pretty much overcome the hurdle thanks to modern technology. He still practices what he is going to read a few times beforehand to become familiar with the piece, but there's no need to. He now reads better than most folks. Folks where I'm from, anyway!

Recently, Mike mentioned to me that he was going to read a section from his favorite book of all time - Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged'. Whoa. This was obviously not going to be a normal company meeting. Having just started to scrape the surface of explaining the dangers of socialism in Episode 5 of Hidden Secrets Of Money, it was obvious that this reading would make for an excellent video. It's also very timely when you consider the current events in Crimea, where Ayn Rand lived as a young girl. Yet another example of history echoing through the ages.

So, as that guy said in 'American Pie', God bless the internet. Here it is for you to watch at your leisure, grab yourself a chair and get comfy. There are so many great quotes from Ayn Rand in here that it can be a little overwhelming -- it really is a Tour De Force of logic and reason. Please watch it a couple of times, take it all in, and then here is a challenge for you: Pick your favorite lines, and add them to the comments below. Let's see which sections resonate the most.

I hope you enjoy being in our our company meeting. The vibe isn't usually this heavy, I promise. In fact, straight after Mike's reading we got stuck into the strawberries and sang Happy Birthday to him. More importantly however, we closed out the meeting as we do every week by reading our mission together, out loud:

To enlighten the world that maximum prosperity can only be achieved through individual freedom, free markets, and sound money.