Last week, I took a walk around a park with a friend. The more I walked, the more I began to think about life-- society, the world, and the people within it. After my journey ended, my friend and I walked into a pub to wait for an Uber ride back to our homes. What I thought about in the park became true as I entered those doors: People don’t care about people anymore-- they only care about money.

Strolling around the park, I thought about various people in my life-- my family, my friends, my neighbors. All of these people who play a significant role in my life have one thing in common: They all work or are soon looking for work. I even remember my parents during some of my various years talking about money and when they will make their next paycheck.

Well, the sad truth of society is that we cannot live without money. We have rolled this way for hundreds of years now. If no one needed to make money, then no one would want to go to work. That’s the truth. However, society, in my opinion, has gotten so bad to the point where we are always looking forward to our next paychecks.

As taxes go up and inflation continues to rise, we desperately need that next paycheck to survive. If not, we will lose our homes, cars, electronics, appliances-- our whole lives. Some of us won’t even be able to eat their next meal without their next paycheck. It’s a scary situation and as prices rise, most of our fears turn into anger all over the dollar bill.

I agree, some have it worse than others; and some have it better than others. Money affects us all in different ways. Some people are more greedy, whereas others are more generous with their money. Despite how money works, most of us today have forgotten what it means to be human.

If we look deep down, we realize we are not programmed to wake up every day to possess material items such as money. Deep down, the inner child is awake. And that’s exactly what we want: We want to play; we want to care and be cared; and most importantly, we want to be loved.

And we can’t get that today. Not when the works of society continues to brainwash us away. We are nothing more than society’s slaves: We are given a number (social security number), working number; and have to wake up only to make material numbers again. We make material numbers just so it can be given to the government-- so we can live. But are we?

The night while my friend and I were waiting at the Pub, we got an Uber ride back to our homes. My friend instantly recognized the Uber driver. The Uber driver was someone with whom she works at Amazon. I had never met him before, but I picked up that he was a friendly and calm human being.

I sat down in the car. Not even saying “hi” to me, he said, “I figured this would be a great way to pick up some extra cash tonight.” He said work was tiring. He then went on, saying how he has his security license and should work another job to make more money.

I said, “You should go for it! You’ll be able to make money and help people!” He replied, “Not even to help people. I got bills to pay. I have a three year old-- I could care less about helping people as long as I’m making that cash.”

When I got back to my friends house, I remember her mom asking her daughter how much money she’s made from work-- not even saying “hi” to her. These examples and countless other examples from around the world just go to show how much money is over-taking and over-ruling people’s lives.

People don’t care about people anymore. They just care about going to work and finding out when they will be able to make that next paycheck. They could care less about the well-being of a person; and if they do, they will only end up caring once that person is on deathbed or once it is too late.

Pretty soon, we will wake up for our last day-- we will have supported all we needed: Ourselves, our family, and our kids. But by then, it will be too late. Our inner child has waited too long. Now, time has run out. We will begin to ask ourselves: Did we live? Did we play? Did we laugh? Did we love?

Instead of living to work and working to live, learn to put aside what matters most. Do not only work, but work to give. Give your loved ones time, give experiences, give memories, and finally, learn to give yourself and others a life that’s full of love and that’s worth remembering. If you don’t, you will never truly realize the lost of humanity before it’s too late.