No, it basically is: "can we get rid of prices and still have a great economy" was the 20th century's fight. It was resolved conclusively in favour of no - not

No, it basically is: "can we get rid of prices and still have a great economy" was the 20th century's fight. It was resolved conclusively in favour of no - not even the Chinese try to argue for non-market economies these days. The only people who still argue about whether prices and earning potential is a good proxy for usefulness are people who are ideologically blinded to the lessons of history. Warren Buffet is in fact a lot more useful than a handful of nurses: not in the same context obviously. If you need a nurse you need a nurse. But measured coldly and rationally, in terms of number of lives affected and amount of value created for sheer number of people, it's hard to beat the Sage. If a random nurse quits their job tomorrow nobody will notice. If Buffet dies, the world will notice.