Economic justice: Beauty and the Beast: Re-humanising money

Jennifer Kavanagh argues that money has strayed from its ‘moral roots’

There is a need for money to be not froth or ‘bubbles’ but more real. | Photo: Photo: Stellajo1976 / flickr CC.

Remember that the Beast was once – and was to become again – a handsome prince. What set him free was love.  We are all too familiar with the Beast. We have been living with him for a long time, even if it is only recently that he has emerged from his lair in all his terrifying reality. Living with the Beast, as Belle found, brought her sumptuous riches, exquisite food and servants to wait on her, but no lasting satisfaction. The Beast of our story may not have been a handsome prince, but was at least a reasonable character, working hard to provide a service. It is we, in the guise of the malevolent fairy, who from fear and greed, have turned him into what he has become.

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