Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the most valuable commodity that has ever or will ever exist, spanning time, scientific advancement, and philosophical achievement… are people. Human beings as free individuals are more valuable than gold, bitcoin, or knowledge… because people give value to those things. The lowest use of a person is for manual labor. Whereas ideas, innovation, and intent are paramount. These things can propel an organization, faction, or individual further than any amount of riches. In fact, gold weighs us down, bitcoin only works when the power is on, and knowledge requires a brain to use it. People, on the other hand, can leverage knowledge, give value to currency, and can carry you if you break a leg. These are but a few of the reasons people are the most valuable “commodity” there is.
What makes the loss of human life terrible is the loss of their knowledge, their potential, and their ideas. If someone has the idea how to cure cancer, but lacks the knowledge to bring it to fruition, that idea dies with them. A knowledgeable person added to the equation changes the potential outcome. With an idea and the knowledge to carry it out, cancer could be cured. Yet political favor is often far more important than good ideas, knowledge and even money… so a politically favored person added to the equation can change the entire paradigm. If one of those people dies however, the process is interrupted, perhaps forever. In this example, we see that the individual is important as a cog in a sprocket, but even more valuable as a partner in innovation. Each person’s abilities add value.
Nothing has innate value… other than human beings. Crude oil used to be just crude. It wasn’t until people came up with uses for it that it became useful. Illustrating our ability to make the crude refined. Gold has no use in a state of nature. It’s value, then, lay in its ability to be crafted. Which means the ability to craft is more valuable than gold or jewelry. The ability of people to overcome shortages means human beings are more important even than unlimited resources. Because, if we’re allowed to, no matter what runs out, people will think of ways to get around it. Even a car has zero utility without a driver. This shows us that stuff can be of use only if people are available to use it. In other words… valuing the tool more than the hand that wields it, is a sure way to lose both.
Often, the most overlooked person is the most valuable to the group. Take the guy or gal who “cleans phones,” as in the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. They seem redundant, foolish, and even stupid. Take them away, however, and the law of unintended consequences kicks in… where everyone dies from a plague contracted from dirty phones. This is kicking down Chesterton’s fence… where eliminating seemingly irrelevant people, who happen to be the 20% of the Pareto distribution that does the work… cuts productivity. After a few rounds of this a corporation is bankrupted and no one understands why. Because the 80% that do little work, politic their way through life…. even as the 20% do most of the work. What about the homeless, some might warn, aren’t they deranged and violent?
A fear of dangerous people is grounded in reality. I wouldn’t hire someone who’s stabbing people all the time. Can you imagine the pain, lost time at work, and cost of getting stabbed? As Kevin Bridges puts it. That is, if every underutilized and homeless person goes around stabbing people… which clearly isn’t the case. Moreover, what comes first, mental illness or hopelessness? I say that purpose breeds mental wellness. Value is never intrinsic to anything… people give things value. This makes human beings of incalculable value. Even the most ostensibly useless person then has worth, and if even the detested person has and gives value, how much more the underutilized person? Pragmatically then, there is nothing more valuable than people, because we bestow value to the valueless.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
People Are The Source Of All Value
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the most valuable commodity that has ever or will ever exist, spanning time, scientific advancement, and philosophical achievement… are people. Human beings as free individuals are more valuable than gold, bitcoin, or knowledge… because people give value to those things. The lowest use of a person is for manual labor. Whereas ideas, innovation, and intent are paramount. These things can propel an organization, faction, or individual further than any amount of riches. In fact, gold weighs us down, bitcoin only works when the power is on, and knowledge requires a brain to use it. People, on the other hand, can leverage knowledge, give value to currency, and can carry you if you break a leg. These are but a few of the reasons people are the most valuable “commodity” there is.
What makes the loss of human life terrible is the loss of their knowledge, their potential, and their ideas. If someone has the idea how to cure cancer, but lacks the knowledge to bring it to fruition, that idea dies with them. A knowledgeable person added to the equation changes the potential outcome. With an idea and the knowledge to carry it out, cancer could be cured. Yet political favor is often far more important than good ideas, knowledge and even money… so a politically favored person added to the equation can change the entire paradigm. If one of those people dies however, the process is interrupted, perhaps forever. In this example, we see that the individual is important as a cog in a sprocket, but even more valuable as a partner in innovation. Each person’s abilities add value.
Nothing has innate value… other than human beings. Crude oil used to be just crude. It wasn’t until people came up with uses for it that it became useful. Illustrating our ability to make the crude refined. Gold has no use in a state of nature. It’s value, then, lay in its ability to be crafted. Which means the ability to craft is more valuable than gold or jewelry. The ability of people to overcome shortages means human beings are more important even than unlimited resources. Because, if we’re allowed to, no matter what runs out, people will think of ways to get around it. Even a car has zero utility without a driver. This shows us that stuff can be of use only if people are available to use it. In other words… valuing the tool more than the hand that wields it, is a sure way to lose both.
Often, the most overlooked person is the most valuable to the group. Take the guy or gal who “cleans phones,” as in the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. They seem redundant, foolish, and even stupid. Take them away, however, and the law of unintended consequences kicks in… where everyone dies from a plague contracted from dirty phones. This is kicking down Chesterton’s fence… where eliminating seemingly irrelevant people, who happen to be the 20% of the Pareto distribution that does the work… cuts productivity. After a few rounds of this a corporation is bankrupted and no one understands why. Because the 80% that do little work, politic their way through life…. even as the 20% do most of the work. What about the homeless, some might warn, aren’t they deranged and violent?
A fear of dangerous people is grounded in reality. I wouldn’t hire someone who’s stabbing people all the time. Can you imagine the pain, lost time at work, and cost of getting stabbed? As Kevin Bridges puts it. That is, if every underutilized and homeless person goes around stabbing people… which clearly isn’t the case. Moreover, what comes first, mental illness or hopelessness? I say that purpose breeds mental wellness. Value is never intrinsic to anything… people give things value. This makes human beings of incalculable value. Even the most ostensibly useless person then has worth, and if even the detested person has and gives value, how much more the underutilized person? Pragmatically then, there is nothing more valuable than people, because we bestow value to the valueless.
Sincerely,
John Pepin