Money as the end-all-be-all is pretty new. I notice it a lot in American culture in particular.

People have dedicated their life to all sorts of endeavors in the past, and still do of course. Big religions are a prime source of people doing large amounts of work for no money.

It's quite odd to me to think that any activity i engage in should be to accumulate these tokens. Something i do stuff for the process itself. Sometimes to get a smile from people. Sometimes to see more beauty around me. Etc