Values, Valuables, Goods, Services

These four terms have overlapping definitions. Thus they are sometimes used in a confusing manner. They also get a spin put on them that implies money is the determinant factor in defining them. Capitalism tends to put a price on everything. Everything becomes a commodity—to be bought or sold for a profit. When used in a more fundamental (i.e., from the dictionary) sense, however, there can be interesting distinctions between these words, I think. First, let me be clear on how I’m using them.

Value is a word I’m using more as a verb—in the sense of having esteem or regard for something. What we value is a personal choice and can say something about our priorities and morals. Moreover, one can value both material and immaterial things. If I value truth, for example, I’ll tend to act differently than if I value owning a lavish house.

Something that is considered valuable often has a high price put on it by society. Most of us will pay good money for an item that the general public values, if we really want it. American culture urges me to acquire as many valuables—in the way of material things—as I can. On the other hand, an item can also be personally deemed valuable, even if it’s commonly considered inexpensive. (We all possess what we consider to be valuables that would bring little or nothing on eBay.)

By goods, I mean the merchandise or property that we exchange for money. Goods and valuables can be quite interchangeable, from this perspective.

Finally, I’m using services as meaning nonmaterial goods. Services may be thought of as one’s labor or time that one person provides to another. Sometimes it’s a gift, sometimes it’s for a price. Many people work “for the man,” providing services in exchange for money that can then be used to acquire goods or other kinds of services.

To be reckoned valuable in a public sense, therefore, something must have a certain market appeal. Supply and demand determines the cost of something; and raises that cost if it’s perceived as scarce. We’re taught to get the highest price for what we’re selling and the lowest for what we buy. It’s the way we acquire more goods; it’s how we grow the economy.

What I find intriguing is that many of the things in life that I consider to be the most valuable are actually free—or once were, and maybe ought still to be. What price can we put on love? Religious freedom? Clean air? Pure water? Often, however, they all come at a price… a high price. For example, bottled water (not as pure as we’re led to believe) costs hundreds of times more than tap water.

What kind of a society might we be, if the following goods and services were freely available (were a citizen’s right, even): clean air and water, a college education, a fair wage, good health care, safety, an unpolluted environment? Is it inevitable that they either cost a lot or are simply unavailable to most of us?