A World of Relationship
How, then, have we come to this - this throw-away world of sub-contractors and assembly lines? There isn't much that we cherish anymore. We covet things, but we do not cherish them.
When one person builds something from start to finish, manifesting a dream into reality, that person breathes a certain life into it. It may not be life in the biological sense, but if enough personal attention goes into the making of a thing, that thing becomes more than just some inanimate object, useful but distant. It becomes something that someone cares about. And once it is cared about, it will also be cared for.
On the other hand, when a thing is built by anonymous labor, what incentive is there to care for it? The greatest strength of the economic system is also its greatest weakness: it gives us a way to measure value. We measure the value of the things we buy through the price we pay for them. And we forget to be grateful for the labor of others because we already paid them in cash. Money becomes the extent of every exchange, and relationship is forgotten.
This is perhaps the greatest failing of the modern world, the greatest failing of economic theory. Relationship has been overthrown. No longer the central element of human existence, no longer the primary determinant of personal value, relationship has been relegated instead to the realm of the “intangible.” It is a value that can not be reduced to price, a value which must therefore be ignored.
What would it mean to live in a world of relationship? It would mean extending our recognition of value beyond replacement cost. It would mean extending our awareness of others beyond the cash we pay for their time. We wouldn't have to work very hard at it. We all know that a favorite T-shirt can be nurtured well beyond its normal life expectancy. Or that selling a house can feel like abandoning your best friend.
If we were to nurture within ourselves this kind of relationship with things, then perhaps we would rediscover our relationship with people as well. Perhaps we would recognize the true value of a person's time, no matter what meager wage that time might purchase in the global economic marketplace. Perhaps we would recognize the true value of a person's heart, despite the fact that it isn't traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
We may have inherited the global economic system, but we are not stuck with its philosophy. We can choose to care deeply for things - and for each other - despite the rules of market value. We can cherish even the smallest thing, along with even the smallest human effort that went into its creation. The true value of a thing lies not in its price, but in its ability to connect one heart to another.
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I Lived Once in My Father's House:
Comments (2)
Trackbacks aren't working for some reason, so here is a link to my reaction to this post on Genuine Curiosity.
Thanks for getting my blood running.
Dwayne
Posted by Dwayne Melancon | December 1, 2005 2:13 AM
Posted on December 1, 2005 02:13
Your trackback seems to have come through, but I'm happy to leave the comment up too. Thanks for the reference on your own blog. I like what you have to say about individuality and about things lasting. (You're going to love part 3!)
- EM
Posted by EM Sky | December 1, 2005 3:04 AM
Posted on December 1, 2005 03:04