We’re all in the Same Boat!

When it comes to Economics, we are all in the same boat. By “same boat” I mean that all of us, and I mean ALL of us, will acquire material things and the services of other people, (should we want or need to consume them) to the extent that we have the hard-earned cash, or someone else’s hard-earned cash to trade for them.

These things and services span a wide range indeed. The weights in a gym, the textbook on elementary algebra, the “Tesla S” automobile, a life-saving antibiotic, a rock concert, the instruments in the rock band, a full body massage, the jewelry that adorns us, the array of magazines on the shelf at Barnes and Noble Bookstores, the “lifted” Pickup Truck are all material things. I am certain that you can imagine many others, like iceberg lettuce and Frito® Brand corn chips, for example.

And guess what, each of these material things, many of great necessity to some, many completely useless to others, embody the collected wisdom of the ages, the needs of the moment, and satisfy essential desires.

What’s the point? The point is that we all live in an economy whose existence has arisen due to the fact that normal human behavior propels us to invent, make, sell, and consume stuff in millions of varieties, in response to our humongous diversity of tastes, cultures, needs, desires, and habits.

Problem is that many people have lots of hard-earned cash and others less so. In a world of things to consume, this can be a big problem. It can be a cause for distress. It can even lead to bad behavior. How can this happen?

Like they say, IT’S ECONOMICS STUPID!

Here’s a quote from the introduction to Contentonomics:

With their 1985 rock hit, “Money for Nothing” (Mercury Records), the Dire Straits band zeros in upon the seeming frustrations of furniture moves and microwave installers watching rock bands on MTV. The expressed lamentation of the MTV watchers centers on their reality of earning little pay for back-breaking work while a rock band receives big bucks, and the unadulterated adulations of sweet young (female) things for virtually nothing. The major cost to the band of the entire day’s work effort are blisters on fingers and thumbs.

“Money for Nothing” showcases two work possibilities in two extremes. Even if you take the underlying assumption that it might be better to be a rock star than a furniture mover, there is an immovable law of economics that applies to everyone – even microwave installers and rock stars. This law both serves as signpost to our entry into the economy, as well as the hook on which we can pin our hopes and dreams of a better and more contended life. The law is simply stated – what you earn in monetary and material compensation in your life will be determined by three things:

● the existence and intensity of a demand by others for what you do,
● the perception of quality and value for what you do in the eyes of other people, in the eyes of the community,
● and most importantly the ease or difficulty of your being replaced in doing what you do.

The beauty is that living Contentonomics can meet this challenge in a way that most people will find quite satisfying.
What’s the point again? We all face these three rules above. Question is, “how can we live by these rules, honor our diversity, and be contented at the same time?” There is a way . . .

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