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There is a telling insight from David Graeber, I think it is in his great book Debt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years https://en.wikipe
by mellavora 5y ago
There is a telling insight from David Graeber, I think it is in his great book Debt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years
He starts with the reasonable postulates that economic value is a function of desirability and uniqueness.
and then observes that the things which make us the most human are by definition shared among all humans, ...
thus essentially of zero economic value.
Of course, he is also arguing against traditional definitions of economic value by showing how ridiculous they are, much as you point out.
- HPsquared 5y agoI'm a fan of the Austrian school's idea that value is subjective and situational. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjective_theory_of_value https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjective_theory_of_value
- cowbellemoo 5y agoI'm a fan of Marx's idea that value is created by labor and the free gifts of nature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_theory_of_value https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_theory_of_value
- imtringued 5y agoPeople definitively value their own work, others may not.