Your argument seems predicated on the premise that money can only serve the lowest of Maslow's "hierarchy of needs", perhaps the bottom two rungs?

My contention would be that a consciously aware person, and more especially group of people, could harness money for the full range of needs in the diagram. They could do this for both their own (real) needs and those of others and of humanity.

There are so many triggers, unconscious attitudes, fears and misconceptions around "money" which is an organizing energy and can be used, like any tool really, for egoistic or altruistic ends.

An awful lot of healing work remains to be done in this area.