The earliest British currency was mainly gold or silver coins. Gold and silver were valued in themselves, so when they were made into coins, they were well accepted. However, coins with impurities appeared over time. Even low-purity coins remained unchanged in face value, so people used the coins with a lot of impurities and kept high-purity coins at home. As a result, only bad-quality coins were commonly used in the market. At this, Thomas Gresham, a financier, said, “Bad money1 drives out good2.”
1. Currency of which the metal price is lower than the legal price.
2. Currency of good quality. Currency with little difference between the actual price and the legal price.
Today, it is widely used to mean that bad things easily drive out good things. If there are many immoral people in an organization, it is easy for those who aren’t to be influenced by them; the more there are defective products in the market, the harder it is to find quality products. Also, the more you have bad habits, the fewer you have good habits.
Before we speak or act, let us ask ourselves, “Is it desirable?” rather than asking, “Does it benefit me?” or “Does it make me comfortable?” Then, wouldn’t we crack down such a phenomenon?