The Almightier

How Money Became God, Greed Became Virtue, and Debt Became Sin

By: Paul Vigna

Narrated by: Rob Reider

The complete story of how we came to worship money, and how we can stop greed from destroying everything.

The pursuit of wealth is considered an essential function of human nature, and greed is an unspoken civic virtue. Many of us revere billionaires and Wall Street rain-makers, then complain about “the system” being rigged, and wonder why the country doesn’t seem to work for the little guy anymore. Some blame the Deep State for income inequality and corruption, and others blame capitalism, but the truth is that these issues have much deeper roots: our devotion to money is a manmade invention that has transformed over thousands of years to replace religion as the foundation of our society, and it is tearing civilization apart.

In The Almightier, journalist Paul Vigna uncovers the forgotten history of money, tracing the uneasy and often accidental alliance between wealth and religion as it developed from ancient city-states to today’s secular world, where religious devotion has receded and greed has stepped in to fill the void. Through engaging anecdotes, original research, and fresh perspectives on the causes of the many challenges we face today, Vigna makes a compelling argument that money has no power apart from the power we give it.

We can build a better future, where we don’t need to choose between helping others and getting ahead. But we can’t repair the damage that greed has done until we understand how it took over our world in the first place.

©2025 by Paul Vigna. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

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I was in PR in the crypto industry when I met Paul so I mostly bought the book to support him and it seemed interesting enough. Now that I've listened I've got to say WOW! This book has completely shifted my perspective on money in a good way. Getting where we've come from at the root of it has created more awareness and changed how I engage with the world economically. I wonder if he'll continue the conversation. In the meantime, if you are considering definitly read/ listen to this one.