Our Shared Shelf discussion

Hello everyone,

As I was finishing the book one thing struck me (ok,to be fair many struck me in this book), (view spoiler)[ at one point Mozasu tell his son if he was making money people would respect him. This sentence reminded me of some parts of the book such as Hansu buying everything he could buy (people or material goods) or even the job of Solomon tightly related to money. (hide spoiler)]

I must admit that the question I'm going to ask is not from me but from an intern asked me while we were talking about something totally different. Yes, we think a lot while working after all Ph. D means Doctor in Philosophy :) Consequently, it makes everyone here a Ph. D (since we think a lot, even more than many people who have that title in addition of a big ego :p), right? :D

So the question the intern asked me was:

Is there anything in our societies (so a foundation of our cultures) which is not related to money and/or haven't been monetised?

I even thought further by saying "Is money the materialisation of power in our societies? "

(view spoiler)[ One addition thing that struck me is most of the males/men characters except Isak (maybe) have more link to money than the females/women characters. We learnt how hard Sunja and her mother worked, same for other women of the book but it always seem that the men are more related to money. I mean, that's what I felt in the last part where many characters seem to care about power and money, it seems to be the Graal that will help them to get everything, to reach a higher position in society with better social status and the recognition. (hide spoiler)]

Please use the Spoiler HTLM code if you are about to write something related to the book since some people who haven't finished/started the book yet may want to read or discuss about the aforementioned questions.

I would say, initially Faith and Hope.

And I think that is what Lee was trying to show with (view spoiler)[ Hana and the family visiting her in the hospital room.

Side note, did you notice how Lee stuck in another Biblical name? Hannah means favor or grace. Or even with Isak, he was a peddler of faith and hope, and he was a poor man. (hide spoiler)]

And I say initially because as these institutions get larger and feel the need to show just how much they believe vs others then it becomes monetized. But initially it's just a man on a mount talking about his father's blessings.

I don't think money has ever not been the materialization of power in almost any society. At least for the most part. Maybe not in Native American societies, and maybe not in African tribe societies, I don't know too much about either of those types of societies. But otherwise, for the most part, those that are the powerful or have power have wealth and have showed off that wealth to therefore show off their power.
Some examples would be: Ancient Roman Emperors (and the senators); Ancient Egyptian pharaohs; any society past or present that is/was ruled by a monarchy; I can't if say the USA has ever had a poor president...I'm sure there are many other examples that I can't think of at the moment.