We have all heard it. Money is the root of all evil. But is it really?

Probably not, but it still causes enough problems to be concerned about. Money is often protected with deadly force. The armored trucks that go around town from business to business collecting deposits have a mini arsenal onboard. Bank guards are carrying a piece. It’s tragic that something so simple as money needs so much protection.

Thing is, people love money way too much.

My brother has ridden in the back of one of these trucks for a couple years now, and he is full of interesting tales of weapons they have inside, the training they go through to use them, and when they actually need to use them – it’s not very often. They carry guns as more of a deterrent to ward off potential robbers. If someone gets the bag of money from their hands, they cannot shoot. In the event that their life is threatened, then they can use their firearm. (The same laws apply to anyone else with a licensed and registered gun.)

But the point is they need a deadly weapon as the deterrent. Money is so valued that people are willing to kill for it. A quick Internet search with the term “”armored guard killed”” brings up dozens of recent situations in which an armed guard was murdered and the money stolen. Banks are robbed at gunpoint. If a person enters a bank and merely claims to have a weapon, they are going to get the money. It’s a threat on life for some little pieces of paper. When did it get this important?

Hollywood has glorified the concept of kidnapping for ransom. Its difficult to find a real occurrence. The ones that stand out are the Lindbergh baby back in the ’30s, and the more recent Jon Benet Ramsey case. The media heavily covered these and they can even be considered household names. Either way, the concept of kidnapping a child, or anyone at all for financial gain is another example of extremes people are willing to go for the green.

Now, of course, money is vital in our society. It’s the backbone of lifestyle. Without money, you are on the street, begging for change. And it goes up from there: Lower class, middle class, the upper class, and all points in between. It all goes without saying. No money, no nothing.

The thought of having nothing might be enough to drive a person to take extreme action to get a few bucks. But most robberies involving injuries and death are not over enough money just to get by. An armed guard can be carrying thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to and from the truck. And that is what people kill for. (Interestingly enough, more often then not, the bags being carried are empty.)

I don’t really need to give examples of drastic action being taken against others for wealth. It’s been happening for centuries, and it will continue. Not to mention other fantastic problems like crippling debt, lawsuits suing for massive sums of money for things like emotional damage and other immeasurable issues. The list goes on. The bottom line stays the same. We love money way too much.

Now switching to an old-style barter system is not the answer. Nor is communism, some future Star-Trekkian utopia, or any wild economy-free ideas. (Not now at least.) Getting rid of money won’t work and is virtually impossible. The only thing to do is to care just a little less about wealth. Truth is, there really are things more important than money. What these things are is purely subjective, but it’s not hard to find them. We just need to collectively care about something else.

Alan Fullmer is a senior majoring in journalism and sociology. He can be reached at letters.arizona.edu.