I saw this interesting quote 'The will to act" referring to the notion of Friedrisch Nietzsche's "will to power".
Nietzsche believed that life is not merely about existence but about actively shaping our destiny through the will to power—the fundamental force that drives us to grow, create, and overcome. Nietzsche believes that we should embrace our own will and take charge of our lives, and he tries to encourage others to move beyond passive acceptance and to forge their own paths. As he believes that true fulfillment comes from our capacity to act upon our desires and ambitions. Then again, Nietzsche is famous for the quote "God is dead". His views on the subject seem clear.
Nietzsche's philosophy often glorifies the pursuit of power as a fundamental human drive. However, the Bible presents a different perspective. In Mark 10:43-45, Jesus teaches that true greatness comes from serving others rather than exercising dominion. This emphasis on humility challenges the notion that power should be the ultimate goal of human existence.
It also says that he came to pay the price to set others free from the penalty of sin. I think this may refer to bringing people back to be able to experience life in the Garden of Eden where God takes care of their every need and they don't have to worry about anything.
The serpent in the Garden of Eden cunningly engineered a situation that played upon potentially innate human vulnerabilities - the craving for power and elevation of status, skepticism about limits or rules, mistrust that God was not fully looking out for their best interests.
So this introduces the idea that while humans may have intrinsic flaws and blindspots, external societal forces can deliberately exploit those weaknesses in a calculating manner for their own agendas. Manipulative rhetoric around rewarding pleasures or avoidance of imagined harms can catalyze people to act against their better judgement.
This should provoke caution about how susceptible human nature may be to the sway of demagogic messaging that hooks into egoic fears or desires. The Genesis story warns against blindly trusting charismatic voices who earn trust only to lead people to moral and spiritual ruin. It underscores the importance of discernment when navigating appeals to our base impulses. I think money is definitely one of those base impulses as it relates to our survival!