by tim » Tue Aug 26, 2025 11:16 am
Money is no more than a medium of exchange. Only when it has a value
acknowledged by more than one person can it be so used. The more general
the acknowledgement, the more useful it is. Once no one acknowledged it,
the Germans learnt, their paper money had no value or use - save for papering
walls or making darts. The discovery which shattered their society was that
the traditional repository of purchasing power had disappeared, and that there
was no means left of measuring the worth of anything. For many, life became
an obsessional search for Sachverte, things of ‘real’, constant value: Stinnes
bought his factories, mines, newspapers. The meanest railway worker bought
gewgaws. For most, degree of necessity became the sole criterion of value,
the basis of everything from barter to behaviour. Man’s values became
animal values. Contrary to any philosophic assumption, it was not a salutary
experience.
What is precious is that which sustains life. When life is secure, society
acknowledges the value of luxuries, those objects, materials, services or
enjoyments, civilised or merely extravagant, without which life can proceed
perfectly well but which make it much pleasanter notwithstanding. When life
is insecure, or conditions are harsh, values change. Without warmth, without
a roof, without adequate clothes, it may be difficult to sustain life for more
than a few weeks. Without food, life can be shorter still. At the top of the
scale, the most valuable commodities are perhaps water and, most precious of
all, air, in whose absence life will last only a matter of minutes. For the
destitute in Germany and Austria whose money had no exchange value left
existence came very near these metaphysical conceptions. It had been so in
the war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Müller died ‘and bequeathed me
his boots - the same that he once inherited from Kemmerick. I wear them, for
they fit me quite well. After me Tjaden will get them: I have promised them
to him.’
In war, boots; in flight, a place in a boat or a seat on a lorry may be the
most vital thing in the world, more desirable than untold millions. In
hyperinflation, a kilo of potatoes was worth, to some, more than the family
silver; a side of pork more than the grand piano. A prostitute in the family
was better than an infant corpse; theft was preferable to starvation; warmth
was finer than honour, clothing more essential than democracy, food more
needed than freedom.
[quote]Money is no more than a medium of exchange. Only when it has a value
acknowledged by more than one person can it be so used. The more general
the acknowledgement, the more useful it is. Once no one acknowledged it,
the Germans learnt, their paper money had no value or use - save for papering
walls or making darts. The discovery which shattered their society was that
the traditional repository of purchasing power had disappeared, and that there
was no means left of measuring the worth of anything. For many, life became
an obsessional search for Sachverte, things of ‘real’, constant value: Stinnes
bought his factories, mines, newspapers. The meanest railway worker bought
gewgaws. For most, degree of necessity became the sole criterion of value,
the basis of everything from barter to behaviour. Man’s values became
animal values. Contrary to any philosophic assumption, it was not a salutary
experience.
What is precious is that which sustains life. When life is secure, society
acknowledges the value of luxuries, those objects, materials, services or
enjoyments, civilised or merely extravagant, without which life can proceed
perfectly well but which make it much pleasanter notwithstanding. When life
is insecure, or conditions are harsh, values change. Without warmth, without
a roof, without adequate clothes, it may be difficult to sustain life for more
than a few weeks. Without food, life can be shorter still. At the top of the
scale, the most valuable commodities are perhaps water and, most precious of
all, air, in whose absence life will last only a matter of minutes. For the
destitute in Germany and Austria whose money had no exchange value left
existence came very near these metaphysical conceptions. It had been so in
the war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Müller died ‘and bequeathed me
his boots - the same that he once inherited from Kemmerick. I wear them, for
they fit me quite well. After me Tjaden will get them: I have promised them
to him.’
In war, boots; in flight, a place in a boat or a seat on a lorry may be the
most vital thing in the world, more desirable than untold millions. In
hyperinflation, a kilo of potatoes was worth, to some, more than the family
silver; a side of pork more than the grand piano. A prostitute in the family
was better than an infant corpse; theft was preferable to starvation; warmth
was finer than honour, clothing more essential than democracy, food more
needed than freedom.[/quote]