Freedom costs money
Nina Paley [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
In one of my last posts a blogger responded to me and initiated a debate on the topic of "money". In specific I made the arguments that "money makes the world work" and made the statement: "I don't see a way to live free without paying fees.". In other words freedom is something which must be purchased with money and this desire to be free sometimes gets misinterpreted as "greed". A greedy person is a person who has enough money to be free but no matter how much money they make it is never enough because they have an endless appetite for more. The pursuit of happiness does not require an unlimited amount of money and according to science there is a spectrum or range which has different incomes and or net worths which for most people is enough.
Is enough for what?
To have enough to buy your freedom means you have enough money that you can do what you want to do with your life without the inner dialog of "if only I had enough money". For most people $125,000 yearly income is enough at the high end of the spectrum. If you have $125,000 a year there really isn't a lot that you cannot do or cannot experience due to not enough money. You can basically travel anywhere on the planet, you can afford to live in most places, you can afford luxury and comfort, you can even afford to raise a family in most places. Of course if you're trying to have something to leave behind (a legacy) then you might need more but for just your own happiness $125,000 a year at this time affords a very good if not one of the best variety of life experiences.
Freedom requires paying fees
What exactly do I mean by paying fees? In the most obvious sense paying fees is paying taxes. We have to make money in order to pay taxes and avoid prison. So it is necessary in the case for instance where you trade cryptocurrencies which are entirely virtual to create "taxable events", that now you've got to pay a fee to your government to keep your freedom. This fee is not something you can negotiate or fight, and you have to pay it in order to keep more of your money (and freedom). So in the most direct sense, you buy your freedom by paying taxes.
Other instances of this include buying a passport so you can travel, paying rent and for tickets so you can access certain places, paying for access is a major example. Access to people and places are not free. If you want to go to a certain place or interact with certain people they are fees to pay. An example of this could be to have a professional interaction with a lawyer where you are billed by the hour to ask questions. Another example could be a life coach, where you pay someone to mentor you and give you life advice. Anyone who you consult with or seek advice from is not always going to give you quality advice for free. In fact often the free advice is deliberately bad advice which explains why it's being given away for free (to manipulate rather than help).
Freedom isn't free so money remains necessary
Freedom is about the ability to say no to opportunities you do not want. Some opportunities require you put your health at risk, your life at risk, and even your freedom at risk. When you have no money you basically must take any opportunity no matter what the risks may be because you don't have the option to say no and keep paying rent, keep buying food, keep maintaining and providing for your family. In the end people are required to accept opportunities they may not even want, merely because they don't have the money to afford a conscience.
Freedom gives a person enough money to afford a conscience. They can say no. They can decide to be moral without opportunity cost. To be free is to have less obstacles in your way of evolving into a better person over time.