Yes, of course, money is about the extension of power, and so is the system. Money confers personal power upon individuals, and it confers military power upon governments. The more money you have, the more power you can command, and that can lead to very deep problems in itself....when you have a disunited, fearful, and ruthlessly competitive humanity whose lust for power outstrips their moral fiber...which is usually the case. ;-)

The other problem, which you have alluded to, is that some people get so used to playing "the game" that no amount of money is ever "enough" and they always want more, and that can lead eventually to total insanity.

Money is just a tool of exchange...but what happens when the exchanger falls in love with the tool itself? He loses all sight of what life is actually about.

And what is life actually about? I think it's about love. Love of every sort. That is, love of individuals, love of life itself, love of other forms of life, love of nature, love of the planet, love of society, love of all acts of useful or beautiful creation (such as writing a song or building a house or cooking a meal or teaching a class)...love on every level of human existence. That's what life is truly about, as far as I'm concerned.

When people become empty, fearful, and lost and they cannot find or experience the love they are instinctively seeking and longing for to fill their souls, it is then that they turn in frustration or ignorance to seeking power over others and money for its own sake, and possessions far beyond what they could ever need. They are trying to fill a void which cannot be filled with any of that stuff, and no matter how hard they try, the void remains. So they try even harder, and things get further out of whack.

I am not condemning money itself (because it's just a tool, and tools are neutral), I'm condemning the turning of money into an idol or an obsession or an addiction, and the turning of temporal power into another idol, obsession, and addiction. Out of the pursuit of those false idols comes the sorrow and destruction in this world.

And that is why in the Bible it doesn't say that "money is the root of all evil"...it says that "the love of money (for itself alone) is the root of all evil". That gets to the crux of the matter. I don't mention it because I'm a Christian (I'm not) or because the Bible is my all purpose authoritative source (it isn't), I mention it simply because I think that is a wise statement that is being made there in that passage.