Intrinsic value

Well, boys and girls, it hasn't been that long since I posted a Blog with exactly this title.

Of course, that post was about a bunch of idiots paying unbelievable amounts of money for license plates, and I guess that's appropriate since this Blog will be along those same lines; Valuing those things with real value and NOT valuing those things that have NO intrinsic value.

Now, before you accuse me of advocating a return to a mercantile economy, let me explain. I have to believe that people, by and large, have enough sense to recognize those things that have value and differentiate them from those things that do not. Diamonds are rare and are therefore valuable. Gold is rare and is therefore valuable. A new operating system for a computer is NOT rare. It has a replacement on the way and probably (especially in light of the Vista fiasco) won't work any better than the old one anyway. A new Iphone is nice, but does it really work better than the old one? Did you really use all of the functions on the old one or are you buying a new one so people will envy you?

I have to believe it's the latter.

So, why do we place value on things that really aren't valuable at all? I'd have to ask a very fundamental question at this point to further illustrate my point: If you were marooned on a desert island, what three things would you insist on having with you? Would it be your Ipod, a cell phone, and a laptop, or would it be things a little less high-tech, like a box of matches, a knife, and roll of fishing string?

I hope it's the last list; not the first.

Those things that have intrinsic value are those things that equate to NEED. What things do we really NEED to survive?

Let me clue you; it's NOT an IPod!

When we re-evaluate those things that are important to us and determine to only buy those things that will be and ARE valuable, that's when our economy will rebound and, I'm afraid, it will not happen UNTIL we get to that place.