Message from @Undead Mockingbird

Discord ID: 542783701134737433


2019-02-06 18:59:44 UTC  

People think that we no longer value human life in a capitalist system.

2019-02-06 18:59:57 UTC  

But a capitalist system only expresses the values people place on things within it.

2019-02-06 19:00:17 UTC  

My family still values me. I have value and that value is expressed in the money they would exchange for my life.

2019-02-06 19:00:36 UTC  

Capitalism expresses whatever values the people within it hold it.

2019-02-06 19:00:47 UTC  

It's like electricity. It's not good or bad. It's whatever people choose to do with it.

2019-02-06 19:00:57 UTC  

I agree with that. In a free market the cost of living shouldnt exceed values

2019-02-06 19:01:09 UTC  

It wouldnt work, right?

2019-02-06 19:01:49 UTC  

It cannot exceed it.

2019-02-06 19:02:08 UTC  

Any system of economy simply "economizes" what value there is.

2019-02-06 19:03:07 UTC  

If you are on an island and have a 100 coconuts, you can put whatever price on them you like, but it doesn't mean you ever have more than 100 coconuts.

2019-02-06 19:04:19 UTC  

I can miscount, and as long as i never correct myself, ill have more

2019-02-06 19:04:27 UTC  

100 coconuts is alot to keep track of.

2019-02-06 19:04:37 UTC  

Im sure you know why i said that

2019-02-06 19:05:24 UTC  

I'm still not sure what it means that the value of something exceeds something. You seem to be thinking in terms of fixed money supplies.

2019-02-06 19:06:21 UTC  

I think people have the wrong impression where prices come from.

2019-02-06 19:06:40 UTC  

They are an expression, ideally, of the values we place on things.

2019-02-06 19:06:55 UTC  

Yep. I did say that as well

2019-02-06 19:07:07 UTC  

If a life is so valuable that you cannot compensate for it with all the things in the world that is one thing, but that doesn't depend on what price tag you assign to things.

2019-02-06 19:07:47 UTC  

The price tag can never "exceed" any supply. It's purely fictional.

2019-02-06 19:08:30 UTC  

It totally can

2019-02-06 19:08:38 UTC  

Show me how.

2019-02-06 19:08:44 UTC  

Advertisement

2019-02-06 19:08:52 UTC  

I'm not sure I follow.

2019-02-06 19:09:07 UTC  

Also even back in the days the had to put those ridges on coins

2019-02-06 19:09:36 UTC  

Because ppl kept putting cheaper materials to make gold/silver coins. Thats why they bite into them in the movies

2019-02-06 19:09:47 UTC  

The ridges made sure they werent counterfeit

2019-02-06 19:10:03 UTC  

There are ways to lie

2019-02-06 19:10:33 UTC  

Also with youtube, the view number is inflated due to bots etc. Its almost all of social media

2019-02-06 19:10:41 UTC  

Yes, you can defeat the purpose of money.

2019-02-06 19:11:21 UTC  

And supply as well

2019-02-06 19:11:22 UTC  

You can mess with prices and we do in many ways. Rent control, minimum wage and so forth are typical ways in which we disrupt the price signals in a market.

2019-02-06 19:11:35 UTC  

Without goverment interference

2019-02-06 19:11:45 UTC  

But as far as the role of money is concerned, it simply expresses the relative value people assign to it.

2019-02-06 19:12:39 UTC  

If 100 coconuts cost $100 or $1 each on that fictional island doesn't really matter.

2019-02-06 19:13:01 UTC  

The fact is that the relative value of all coconuts is the same.

2019-02-06 19:13:30 UTC  

If you introduce another good that people would trade two coconuts for, it means the price is going to be twice that of a coconut.

2019-02-06 19:14:13 UTC  

So, I am confused when people talk about something "exceeding" the total economic value.

2019-02-06 19:14:13 UTC  

Id honestly prefer trading goods over currency. But it would slow the market to a crawl

2019-02-06 19:14:18 UTC  

The value is already accounted for.

2019-02-06 19:14:31 UTC  

What is being expressed is the relative value first and foremost

2019-02-06 19:14:34 UTC  

Techincally yes. You pay w.e you want for sonething