It’s an old thesis - that capitalism has created a religion out of money. But nobody, not even Marx, has been quite as theologically explicit as Paul Vigna, author of The Almightier: How Money Became God, Greed Became Virtue, and Debt Became Sin. The former Wall Street Journal reporter argues that money literally functions as our modern deity, complete with faith-based belief systems, sacred rituals of accumulation, and moral frameworks that equate wealth with divine favor. Tracing money's origins back 5,500 years to — surprise surprise — Mesopotamian temples, he reveals how what began as a practical accounting tool has evolved into humanity's central organizing principle. Unlike Marx's revolutionary critique of capitalist exchange, Vigna argues in favor of recalibration rather than outright destruction. Imagining money as a useful hammer rather than an almighty god, he questions why we chase dollars instead of human welfare, especially in a digital age when innovative new technologies could provide basic needs for everyone.

1. Money literally originated in religious temples 5,500 years ago: "Money shows up first time about 5,500 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, it is a product of temples. The temple in Uruk is where we find it and the temple scribes developed this system to keep track of the temple's possessions, which is called money."

2. Money isn't "real" - it's a collective belief system based entirely on trust: "Money isn't real. Money is an agreement among people. When you talk about trust, we're all trusting in this system. It's a system that we all buy into."

3. The Protestant Reformation transformed greed from sin into virtue: "Calvin says, God controls everything... So if you have money, you have it because God want you to have it. Therefore, if you become rich, God wanted you to become rich... you should work hard to make a lot of money because that's what God wants."

4. We've confused the tool with the goal: "We could provide the basic needs for every single human being on the earth... And what I say is, we don't do that... because we still have this deeply embedded belief that money... we are chasing money, we are not chasing the thing that society is supposed to be set up to do."

5. Bitcoin perfectly illustrates money-as-religion: "Bitcoin is absolutely a religion. It's got its own god in Satoshi Nakamoto... it is the most fascinating thing to watch because it really is, you saw a religion grow up around a monetary system."

Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

The Nitrous Oxide High: Legal and Potentially Lethal