> a home is worth more than the wood that was used to build it I agree with this part, but it doesn't address why, though. The house is worth more than its mat

> a home is worth more than the wood that was used to build it I agree with this part, but it doesn't address why, though. The house is worth more than its material costs because of labor costs. > The role of money here is to balance supply and demand I don't think the role of money is to balance supply and demand, it is to facilitate exchange between items of different exchange values. It is a tool that exists outside of capitalism. > so the things that get done are the things that other people need to get done I respectfully disagree here. I don't know where you live, but I guarantee you there's plenty of things that people need that need to get done that doesn't get done. I argue that in a capitalist system, what is most profitable gets done. In some cases, what gets done aligns with the needs of the people, but in many cases, the needs of the people are not met. I think it should be obvious that a capitalist system cannot distribute resources effectively if you look at this pandemic. I agree that our governments are mishandling everything, but that doesn't have to be the case. A government has the most resources to determine how many homes get built... they just don't do it, because ultimately, it's not profitable. Look at any city budget and see where most of the money is spent: it's spent on the police budget, not on things that need to get done for the people, like building homes, or providng healthcare, etc. Here is a simple scenario to illustrate that extra money is not created. We are at a market, and you are selling wine to me, but sell it for more than the cost it took you to make it. I'm selling books, but also want to make a sell them for more than their cost tome, so I sell it to you for more than I paid for it. If everyone does this, then you can imagine all prices rising and falling together. If the extra money we received goes back into the market for other necessities, then we didn't really make a profit. Profit is created when money is removed from the system and accumulates and is hoarded. I'm going to be logging off for now, but I've enjoyed this discussion.