What then is "plundering", and what is "true wealth"? "Plundering" is an act that rules and torments the as-yet unfinished humanity in two ways: as "unauthorised" plundering and as "authorised" plundering. One can thus openly "plunder" in contravention of the laws of society, the "plundering" then being called "robbery" and stamped as a "crime" that leads to its perpetrator being punished and put in a state prison. But "plundering" can also be camouflaged, which means, be organised in such a way that it observes the judicial laws of society and showers admiration, honour, decorations and social position on its most competent experts and practitioners. Such "authorised plundering" is to a great extent the states' or nations' present monetary or financial system, their public as well as private system of bonds and interest. One cannot possibly explain away the fact that this system is "plundering" as long as it causes bankruptcy, sales by order of the courts, impoverishment, as long as it throws people out of their homes turning them into vagabonds and beggars at the same time as it makes the originator of the system an illustrious magnate who leads a life of luxury and abundance, and makes the magnate's relatives wasteful and lazy, and deludes them into thinking that they belong to society's "upper class"; the fact of the matter is that the only absolute value or "wealth" in life or existence that can turn a being into a member of the "upper class" is his ability to create or his capacity for work. The worker who can do an independent, perfect piece of work is much more a member of the "upper class" than the employer he is working for, whose position among the upper class is determined exclusively by him having "inherited" a fortune or acquired wealth through good fortune or speculation. Without a perfect ability to create, life and existence would be absolutely worthless; not even gold would be superior to mud; indeed, no life would exist at all.
      The belief that one can replace creative ability with gold or dead material, and in so doing become a member of the "upper class", is the erroneous belief that down through the ages has caused war and mutilation, and thereby laid the foundation for the Armageddon that is currently raging between all the nations of this planet. And it is this erroneous belief that constitutes the opposite of "humility", which we call "pride".