Positive Use of Money
I had previously asked the question as to whether it is immoral or unproductive to pay kids to read books or to entice people with money to motivate them toward a good end?
The first thing we need to do to answer this question with wisdom is to rid ourselves of bias toward money. There are many who see money as evil or the root of all evil. Interestingly, this includes not only religious people but also non-believers.
Money is a neutral energy like gravity, the rays of the sun or the wind. All can be put to destructive or constructive use depending on the intent, direction and intelligence behind them.
Many who see money as evil see it as a corrupting influence in most ways it is used. Some even refuse a high paying job in favor of a low paying one to escape the evils of possessing too much of it.
These people with a bias toward money will see evil in its use in many instances where it can produce good. For instance, a wealthy woman a while back started paying poor women to get their tubes tied so they wouldn’t bring children into a bad situation.
It is interesting that she gained some fierce opposition, not from conservatives but liberals who supported abortion but felt somehow that this approach was just plain wrong. Why? Because money was used as a motivator.
Another interesting case is the idea of paying people to donate their organs on their death. Some consider this a great way to provide a little extra inheritance for their kids. On the other hand, those who see evil in money strongly object to this and preach to us that we should be willing to donate organs of our own free will and not get paid. To get paid for such a thing is wrong they say.
But what makes it wrong? No one gets hurt and many benefit, As it is, we rely on volunteers there is always a shortage. Again, they feel paying for organs is wrong because of their bias toward money. Interestingly, they have no problem with a surgeon making a small fortune transplanting the organs.
Similarly, many of those who are against using money to motivate kids will often have a bias toward money and see it as evil. Therefore, they want to get their kids to do every good deed because they want to, not because they are paid.
To get to the truth of the matter we must first rid ourselves of this evil money bias and look at each situation objectively and use the second key of judgment. There are times when paying a child money will create a positive influence and other times when it will not. Each circumstance must be assessed with judgment.
Take myself for example. I had never read a regular book in my life until I was thirteen. Before that, all I read was comic books, which I loved. I just considered regular books boring. What changed me was the accident I had at thirteen that laid me in the hospital for a month. Friends and church members brought me all kinds of books to read. Many of them were religious which didn’t interest me at all at the time.
Finally, someone brought me a book that caught my interest. Even though the cause of the accident was me making a rocket, someone had the gall to bring me a book on rockets.
Normally, I wouldn’t have read even that, but I was so bored out of my mind with all that time on my hands that I decided to read it from cover to cover. When finished I not only had a great sense of achievement but discovered that I really enjoyed regular reading. I was hooked on books from that moment on. My only regret was that I didn’t get started earlier.
Actually, getting me started earlier would have been easy to do. If one of my parents had given me an interesting book at the age of ten and given me $5 to read it all I would have done it and made the discovery earlier.
A kid who is a true seeker at heart would not have to be paid to read every book for once he gets started, he will read a lot of his own free will. Like me he may need something to jump start him to get him going.
How about the kid who is not a seeker but just wants to get by? He may need more than a jump start. Maybe paying him whatever it takes to read a dozen books will make him realize the value of books. I wouldn’t recommend paying any kid forever to read books but if he doesn’t read much in the present the motivation of money may be just enough to direct the kid toward a new habit.
I’m a big believer in teaching kids the value of money and believe that it helps children to pay them for work that goes beyond mild chores. When a kid asks for extra money, instead of just giving it to them say, “I just happen to have a job for you so you can earn that extra money.
Each child is different so the parent will just have to do some experimenting to discover what will motivate him or her. I know that when my friend Wayne and I were growing up together we were motivated to do almost anything to earn a few extra dollars spending money. We would have gone to school dressed as dancing girls if someone would have paid us enough.
Let us read and let us dance – two amusements that will never do any harm to the world. – Voltaire
Nov 21, 2026
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