What exactly is money? : Being Ecomoneycal


I've always thought about the money question, however never sought for answers thinking that maybe it's too naive a thought. But it's hard to ignore the question that what makes money so important? How did it become so important in the first place? I remember lessons from history when there was barter system where people would exchange food grains, spices, jewels etc., not only that, they would even offer manual service in exchange to get what  they wanted. That system still makes sense to me. People were independent and were capable of fulfilling their needs. In case they lacked 'something' they would exchange 'something' they had in return to obtain 'something' they didn't.

Looking back to those times, that model seems to be very sustainable as the individuals were actively indulged in sharing and exchanging their resources. The process of sharing and exchanging has immense potential, it cuts down overuse and over-consumption and cuts down on waste too. Introduction of money
 ruined that system entirely. Now people have become more selfish, they don't care about exchanging or sharing especially if they have money to get what they need, they would never prefer investing time and energy in reaching out to others to share/exchange.

Not only that, introduction of money has led to creation of so many other problems in the world--debt ridden countries, inflation, economy focused development, and all that jazz. In today's time everything boils down economy, so much so that economy is considered to be the solution to the most critical social and environmental problems in the world too. So I come back to my question again--HOW? How did the system of money evolve? How, why and what made it successful and socially acceptable worldwide?

Although I've pondered over these questions several times in my mind, I must acknowledge that a conversation with a friend who has a finance background rekindled the thoughts in my mind. While he sat there explaining me about equity, shares, fiscal policies, assets and what not, my mind was wondering about the same questions again and again... 

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