Why do people not value free stuff? Share your thoughts!

Yes, the $10 bill you found on the street has less value to the finder, because they see it as free money and just are likely to just spend it on some stupid not needed stuff, which they will forget about 10 minutes after they bought it.

If they knew they had to work for the money, it would be much harder to spend.

But, thanks again for making this a left/right issue and attack me personally for my posts. Shows your own extreme partisanship and that you are unable to see a post for its value dissociated from the name of the poster and his/her politics. Sad...

 

I haven't mentioned politics at all. This is about Common Purse Collectives (essential/pure Commuism). It's about PEOPLE who voluntarily engage in it. PEOPLE who've already decided they want to live this way.

You guys keep rabbiting on about 'state' communism. Either it's the only kind you know of, or you're so wedded to your capitalist lifestyle that you can't bear to think of any other kind. In your case Belch, possibly the former. Our friend Kode, the latter. So you win, either way. It's the pretenders who give me the poops.

 

Yeah, they are idiots. I always like free stuff and will always say thank you. Now send me the free shyt, NOW!

 

I don't think this is strictly correct, Jake. What you're describing is very much a cultural phenomenon, not a 'human' one. Plenty of very poor refugee types from the Third World dislike (intensely) receiving welfare for any longer than necessary, and can't wait to start being industrious and building wealth.

 

Again, not always the case. Plenty of people regard every small windfall as a boost to the coffers, and DON'T spend it.

 

What you say is true, of course, but he does have a point.

Just look at any 'poor' person's shopping cart. Will be full of cheese, meat, and soda. All VERY expensive choices, and all completely unnecessary in the human diet.

If they were genuinely poor, like Bangladeshi low-castes or similar .. their carts would be full of rice, beans, and lentils. Their vegetables (and possibly also eggs) would be grown at home. In pots, if necessary.

 

Oh sure, that's the reason

 

The air you breath is free, the sunshine on yer shoulders, that forty foot fall from a cliff, absolutely nothing in cost..

 

You can grow eggs in pots?

 

Very small ones.

 

With small hens...

 

Yes, that was my point. Tiny hens, in pots on your apartment window ledge.

 

I wasn't really happy with throwing the "all" bit in there, so I fired back. Sorry.

As for your rebuttal, you're arguing that one ten dollar bill is different from another ten dollar bill even if they're placed side by side in the same wallet. The whole idea of money is that it is exactly the same. A dollar in my left pocket can buy the exact same thing that a different dollar in my right pocket can buy. They are both worth the exact same amount no matter which physical dollar I'm handing over to the cashier.

It might seem to the finder that the ten dollar bill found on the street is free money, and it is. However, wouldn't that not devalue the ten dollar bill you already have? One was worked for while the other was not, but they are both the exact same thing completely interchangeable with the other.

Or how about the ol' finding a ten dollar bill in the pants pocket of some clothes you just washed? Does it matter if you found it and forgot you put it in there, or that you worked for it? When I was in my twenties and unmarried, a pair of jeans could go unwashed for weeks! Finding that money in the pocket would be a complete surprise.

Is it worth less because I did work for it at one point?

 

Communism IS a religion. Why do you think communist countries don't allow freedom of religion?

I'm not saying that there can't be a voluntary communism. I know that there is, but it usually devolves into involuntary communism, and that requires some form of coercion to maintain. The "common purse" you talk of isn't something I can dip into today but then decide that I'd rather not contribute to tomorrow.

 

Nuh-uh.

I am taxed on mine.

 

Because it’s free and human nature dictates that you value something you work for, more than anything that’s given to you. Plenty of psychological studies prove this as well as basic life experience.

Not to say some people don’t value whatever it is they have. They do. But it’s different when you build it, earn it, make it... whatever it is.

There’s are TED Talks all about it.

 

Creaky plastic, but valuable? I'm guessing a foxbody.

Of course you're correct. The work you put into that car makes it your own. Steinbeck wrote something similar about land in grapes of wrath.

What interests me about this subject is whether it is the work that makes it valuable, or is the value that makes it worth the work. In your case, it's obviously the work that makes it valuable. But... let's say that during your rebuild, everything went as smooth as silk. You didn't cuss once while looking for a wrench you just had in your hand a minute ago, and basically, the work was a fraction of what it actually took.

Would it still be as valuable to you? Did the bruises on your knuckles make it worth more, than if you hadn't bruised your knuckles? I kinda know the answer, but I don't understand why. I don't like to think of myself as a masochist, but... that's what it leads me to believe.

 

SOME communes are religious, for sure, but I've never heard of any which actually forbid religion. That would be extremely unlikely, and impossible to police anyway. These are voluntary arrangements, so yeah .. wouldn't work.

Also, they don't 'usually devolve into involuntary communism', at all. Again, I think you're confusing 'state' attempts to implement communism, with actual communism. The outfit near me is STILL entirely voluntary, after many decades. They are growing, in fact .. testament to the health of the system. Their businesses are thriving, and growing at a tremendous rate. Their people appear to be happy, but if nothing else, they are living very clean, healthy, and productive lives (organic foods, no drugs/alcohol/tobacco etc, and no slackers!), so will probably outlive most of us.

Common Purse is how you know it's the real deal. Once private ownership (of anything) is involved, you're not really doing communism. And yes, CP (Common Purse) is the stumbling block for most. Having said that, the more the basics of life elude an increasing proportion of us (housing, life employment, utilities, food, etc), the more attractive it seems .. to some. Of course, those who choose it for economic reasons, are destined to fail at it. If they were prepared to work that hard, they'd have been financially secure in a capitalist society. The people who are okay with CP long term, are those who are there for reasons other than money.

 

If you were to ask the average NE Asian, they'd say it's the value which makes it worth the work .. always.

 

No, I don't think they forbid religions. It's just that communism is often used as a substitute for religion. And sure, they do work as small societies. After all, the basic family unit is communist. I think it can work, but once it gets bigger than 50 people, they start to break down into classes. That's the number of people that most of us can have as friends or close acquaintances.

 

Anything free is worth what you have paid for it

 

That's exactly what I've been trying to 'teach' our friend Kode. He/she appears oblivious to the fact that families have always practiced communism, and many remote subsistence type villages around the world still practice it. That's without even getting to deliberate communism (communes) in the first world. Or the Amish, etc.

I would have to disagree that 50 is the breaking point though. My local outfit is in the many tens of thousands (worldwide), and not corrupted after decades. Another group, who live in the burbs in individual houses/families so 'outsiders' don't realise they're Commies, have existed in some form for close to a hundred years, and haven't changed much (ie, not corrupted) in that time. They own and operate a range of small to medium sized business, mostly in manufacturing. They do everything the same way the average suburban family does. They drive cars, shop at the supermarket, etc etc. BUT, they run on Common Purse, and everyone must work.

These are just some of the many iterations of real communism, which our Cafe Commies like to pretend don't exist. Anything to hold on to their glorious delusion of remaining seated in front of an overpriced soy latte, yet magically drawing an income.

 

So it's the misery that makes it more valuable?

Hey, I know the perfect girl for you. I'm sure she'll be just as cantankerous as your mustang, twice as demanding, three times as expensive, and will be the most valuable thing in your life.

oh, and guaranteed not to start on a cold morning.