It is not only in affluent societies that people are obsessed with the idea of making more money. Co

nsumer goods are desirable everywhere and modern industry deliberately sets out to create new markets. Gone are the days when industrial goods were made to last forever. The wheels of industry must be kept turning. “Built-in obsolescence” provide the means: goods are made to be discarded. Cars get thinner and thinner. You no sooner acquire this year's model than you are thinking about its replacement.

This materialistic outlook has seriously influenced education. Fewer and fewer young people these days acquire knowledge only for its own sake. Every course of studies must lead somewhere: i.e. to a bigger wage pocket. The demand for skilled personnel far exceeds the supply and big companies compete with each other to recruit students before they have completed their studies. Tempting salaries and “fringe benefits” are offered to them. Recruiting tactics of this kind of have led to the “brain drain”, the process by which highly skilled people offer their services to the higher bidder. The wealthier nations deprive their poorer neighbors of their most able citizens. While Mammon is worshipped as never before, the rich get richer and the poor, poorer.