I always like to remind all of us that money isn’t anything on it’s own. It stands for what humans find valuable, and it only works as long as we agree to let it work. It also works imperfectly. Money measures the value of things well, but not the value of relationships. For all intents and purposes, money equals stuff.
What is the importance of stuff to humans? I would say there are two main values to stuff. The first is stuff that makes our lives possible (food, shelter, etc.) and then building on that stuff makes our lives more comfortable. However, it is the second main purpose that I think creates a lot of confusion in us. As throughout history, stuff is a symbol of status.
Throughout history, we honored our leaders by giving them stuff. Religions have always given stuff to their gods (sacrifices, prayers, honor, etc). Village headman would be given stuff by members of the village, but they would also become the headman by being more successful at farming or hunting or fishing or whatever. People would often display stuff on their house, or on their body (rings and jewelry) to show how successful and how high status they are. Jewelry also had the advantage of being portable, so if you had to suddenly leave, you could carry your wealth and status with you, to some degree.
But…. and there’s always a but, isn’t there? Status also comes in another way. It comes through human relationships, as other people have pointed out in this discussion. Some of the most revered people in the world haven’t had that much stuff (Mother Theresa), although, now that I think about it, other religious figures have managed to acquire a lot of stuff (the Pope, Evangelical Priests, Martin Luther King did well, too), but in many communities there are people who work to help others, instead of to make money. They often are loved for it, and become very important voices in the community.
Well, what works in these extreme examples also works for all of us. A form of wealth that is not measured by stuff is our relationships; our social network. Family, friends, acquaintances, business connections, etc, etc. What most people really enjoy is feeling loved, and you can’t get love from stuff. Sometimes, I think, people who aren’t love, sublimate the need by focussing on acquiring stuff.
Of course, it isn’t as simple as this, either. Businesses measure profits in terms of stuff, but the business itself is dependent on relationships. People join businesses both for stuff, and working environment. When businesses create value, it is important, I think, to remember they are creating it because people want the stuff they create, so they are providing a service to those folks, as well as stuff. Service is a relationship kind of thing, although a business service is kind of a stuffized relationship. Or social networking stuff.
Nowadays we are seeing the commodification of relationships. This very site on which I write is part of that trend. Fluther, MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Askville, Second Life, etc, etc, are all different business models that are trying to figure out how to make money off of what people truly value: relationships. So they design virtual spaces to facilitate building of relationships. The stuffization of relationships. Don’t ask me if it is good or bad. It is some of each, but I don’t know how the balance turns out.
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