Can money work?

No it can not.
PEOPLE work.
When we invest cleverly, and cause our assets to grow, it’s thanks to work of people*, or because of growing interest from other investors.

If factories and service providers were controlled from within by those doing the actual work, profits would dwindle, and this whole issue would be significantly diffused.

Or take money creation. Banks create money out of thin air (obtain reserves later if necessary). It’s easier to asses the value of a property than it is to read a business plan. Therefore, speculators can rightly assume that the future will bring further flow of new money into real estate, hence it’s a good investment. Their money has “worked”. In fact, what happened is that the RELATIVE VALUE of their money grew. Everyone else lost money. That’s why it’s so important we democratise money creation.

pic: homesofthecarribean

* Note: people can still be rewarded for having clever ideas. They might need to borrow (existing) money in order to develop them, in which case the lender should be rewarded for temporarily ceding access to the funds.