Background: Economy

There is a limited amount of resources in the world, a limited number of people in the world, a limited number of days to any lifetime, and a limited amount of any currency - pounds sterling, dollars, yen, yuan, rubles, rupees, lira, pesos, shekels, etc.

Money is an invention. Money is a medium of exchange, a very large pool of tokens of value. It represents the time that we spend searching and learning, developing, manufacturing and creating and doing. It represents the value that we are willing to grant to each other for time spent and skill and commitment. Money allows us to enjoy goods and services provided by others, so we don't have to remain at a simple self-sufficiency level. Most communities and nations agree to use tokens to trade for goods and services. The economy is the management of our common resources. Together we have an astonishing array of resources.

The function of money is to transfer value from one person to another. Money is meant to circulate. When money is hoarded, it's not allowed to work. In the bodies of living creatures, when blood is kept in one organ too long, it causes disease. When money is kept in one place too long it causes economic problems for the society.

There is a difference between Prosperity and Wealth.
A community and all its inhabitants can all be prosperous together.
In constrast, in any size economy, only a few people can have extreme wealth which requires that many other people live with fewer resources, or even in poverty.