Working in retail gets me wondering about what drives people to buy. I am often confronted by people who are looking to purchase on a whim. They come in, see something that is cool, pick it up and hand me a plastic card. Its amazing how much I feel contempt for people like that. They may have the money or means to make the purchase, but not the meaning. I have no desire or right to actually know if they can afford what they are buying, but it gets me questioning whether collectively we have lost our ability to see the real value in products.
I can’t help to feel this has something to do with our overall economic environment. As a society we have become so accustomed to justifying value only in monetary terms. Essentially, relating things to their cost. When we start to only see value in money we begin to loose touch with somethings true meaning. No longer are we concerned with possibilities or potential through our use of a product, but rather status of owning or the association with a product. This causes an inappropriate want which is acted upon when unscrupulous creditors take away the immediate need for money. We become in debt because of a falsified value centered on money, not meaning.
The gist: Value is derived from meaning not cost.