dissecting value

A sunny but chilly afternoon of pondering. What has been on my mind lately is the idea of value. What is value? Who decides it and why?

The word value and the concept of value concerns maintenance or excess of a certain standard. This amount of money, this amount of time, this kind of behavior are all equal to value. It is set upon a scale from zero to billions, trillions or possibly even more. Some examples include money. The more money you pay, the higher the value of the jewelry. The older it is the higher the value of wine. The newer it is, the higher the value of an iPhone. A queen holds a high value in chess and an Ace in some card games. With these, the value can be tested based on taste, quickness of closing and opening applications, the necklace not breaking, but still no set standard exists.

Value is also varied dependent on certain beings and their surroundings. In some cases the value of a basic plow may be much higher than that of a telephone, or a well near the house much more valuable than a grocery store. This leaves value basically undefined.

Still, let us consider other types of value such as the value of a piece of paper known as money, of my marriage certificate, of my passport, and of my signature. All of these values are based on one thing, communal belief. Everyone has agreed to worship this paper in such a way. The American and Turkish governments have agreed to treat both Levent and I in a special way due to the red booklet we now possess. My boss has agreed to pay me because of my name on a document called a contract. I must, of course, agree that these elements help things in life to function in, at least, a semi-organized manner. I make money. I teach the children. I call myself a wife. I travel. I live based on acceptance of what society has established and sustained.

However, just for one moment, let us take away this consensual belief in the above agreed upon statements. In reality, those green rectangles in my wallet mean nothing. I am not married. I am under no obligation to teach or to be paid. I am not American. It is my own belief or perhaps non-belief that these latter statements hold the most truth. Without belief, consensual belief, brainwashing, "common knowledge," learned "facts of life" that we all grew up in, what we have deemed so necessary (social security cards, driver licenses, tax forms, official documents of any kind) holds zero value. I still exist with no birth certificate. I can still drive an automobile without a license. I can go to any spot in the world of my own accord. I am a being in possession of these basic abilities.

No one has the right to keep me on a Russian airport hotel floor based on what documents I do or do not carry, yet I allowed that to happen because of my "respect" or "fear" of the values of these rules. Yet these "truths" are indeed false controllers of beings. We are all creatures with an inherent right to walk and move as long as we do not harm other beings. We all exist, and we have the right to survive. We are. This is truth and value.

In fact, the only concept in which the word value applies is on time. Spending time on an invention, an article of writing, enjoying the company of another being. This alone creates value, a value notwithstanding money or other tangible items. This is a value that can be found solely in the state of mind of the beings involved.