Value

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

There was once a little robot who lived all by himself in a world abandoned by humans. Every day, he would go exploring through the endless seas of refuse they had left behind, sorting and compiling it. As he did so, he would discover all sorts of items he had never seen before. What he liked, he would collect, and what he didn't, would go with the rest of the trash.

He didn't collect gold, gems, or precious metals; he didn't collect cash or stock certificates; all of those went with the rest of the garbage. He collected the things he liked, the things that entertained him. To him, our treasures were garbage, and our garbage were his treasures.

Value is not a physical thing. An object's worth is not a matter of how scarce or old it is. The only thing that makes something valuable in the least, is people who place it thereupon.

Economy

My father has told me numerous times that if you want a good look at how people think, study economics. The welfare of the world's economies is ultimately based on the consensus of how people feel about their possessions, themselves, their living situation, and the currency through which they sustain them. An economy does well when people feel good about it, and poorly when people feel bad about it. I'll cover investment and reward later.

The soul of business itself is housed in feeling. Corporate negotiations are strongly influenced by simple things such as likeability and trust. The sole purpose of advertising is to instill a positive feeling in the viewer about a company or product. By making the masses feel like the good or service is worth their money, businesses thrive.

Personal Value

The problem with the consensus of the masses, though, is that it demands unity, for better or worse. That which a person values can be very revealing, and very unpopular. As such, people will hide or dispose of their values in lieu of gaining acceptance.

While, yes, some people place value on objectively dangerous and selfish things, we are prone to attack those with unpopular values. We see them for their investments, rather than trying to see why they invested. There's a reason why things are valuable to them that aren't valuable to you. More importantly, there's a person behind those values, who is not solely defined by them.

There's a reason why people sacrifice success for the welfare of their loved ones. There's a reason why people will swallow the hate of the world to do what they feel is right. There is a reason why people will risk their very lives for a cause.

For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also.