The perpetual drive for profits without regard for its impact on people and environment, the enmity and strife created in the fight for control of resources on a global scale, the centralization of political, economic and social power and the systematic distraction/marginalization of the masses are all concerning issues. Money has found its way into the core of most of our institutions. Is that good or bad? The argument exists that global capitalism has raised the standards of living for many throughout the world and brought about a golden age of longer lifespans, individual rights to life and property, unheralded prosperity and innovation, bolstered by the discourse that an increase in consumption capacity equates a "better life". These ideas are countered by the notion that any system that maintains consumerism as its dominant cultural value leads to the inevitable and absolute reduction of the rights and freedom of its agents to zero as long as the ability to consume is left intact. Our shared socio-economic climate is rooted in the emergent decisions that humans have been making for thousands of years, and the issues that we face here are pervasive and complex. What says you?