What is money that we want it so much? What determines it's value relative to all other things? While I'm not aware of it, I'm sure that there is a subject or term to describe my answer to this question. I say that money represents human work. More specifically, the amount of work people are willing to do for the money. Rather than complicate things with bartering, we use paper and coin to represent how much work we will do if others will do work for us.
For example, when you go to the store to get milk, you are paying the store owner for the work of making it readily available to you which they managed by doing the work of organizing and paying employees to maintain the store and keep fresh milk stocked. You got your money from where you put in your time and energy, lets say on a farm where you helped to take care of the cows who supply the milk, not just so that you could have it for yourself, but so that many others by your efforts will cooperatively attain milk, and you can use your proof of working (money) to attain choice goods that those other consumers helped to create.
I should also note that in this view of economics, it stands to reason that when someone gains money without doing work that is of some benefit comfort or use to others (criminals, parasites, politicians, etc.) they are devaluing everyone's money by doing so, aka causing inflation.
Such is the web of cooperative behavior in the economy. Just as we discovered that production lines are more effective than individuals working independently on a repetitive task, our job specialties allow us to be a part of a massive production line that produces enough quality and quantity of all things to allow everyone to live happily and comfortably. But why don't we? Just as Dr. Strangelove pointed out that a bomb that could destroy the whole planet is worthless if you don't tell anybody about it, the production line effect is worthless if you stop hiring people or make it no longer worth their while to work for you. Why aren't you hiring people? Why aren't you paying enough?
All most people need is that tiny little incentive of independent comfort and a business will have their top choice of employee ethic, skill, and production. Don't believe me? Ask a few people who belong to an employee owned business what they think of it and get back to me. Businesses more often than not can't seem to wrap their heads around this. Even revolutionary and successful companies like Walmart and Starbucks are stubborn and slow to act on such opportunities. So why do they achieve such great success? I say it's a combination of their own good ideas and luck. Ultimately, especially thanks to improved technology and the internet, I think such companies will soon be overwhelmed by more honest business and be forced to change if they want to continue to be in business.
I already know of one such factor that applies here. When I worked at Starbucks, someone told me about Fair Trade international laws concerning coffee. I looked into Starbuck's status on the subject, and while some Fair Trade coffee was occasionally sold at the cafe I worked in, someone in the company had the audacity to claim that all of our coffee was fair trade in the employee manual. But it wasn't. Eventually as the public pressure increased, Starbucks eventually began to integrate actual Fair Trade standards into their business practices. What did it really gain them to lie in the first place or refuse to agree to Fair Trade standards? Imagine if they hadn't lied. I know of at least one employee that would have been a bit more proud to have worked for them and I can only imagine that they could have advertised their use of fair trade coffee better than any other cafe. Rather than corner the market, they chose to fight the wrong fight and potentially lost millions of dollars in doing so.
That's where my next philosophy comes in. When we are low on the food chain, it's not always obvious that there is something we can do. People commented and complained, other competitors bought and advertised that they bought Fair Trade coffee. The money went to the people who did the right and unselfish thing. The economy isn't just about supply and demand. it's also about natural selection. We live in a time where everything is rapidly changing and both culturally and genetically we are all being tested to find our place in the world environment. We might not die from disease as easily as we would have 100 years ago, but we are still given more or less influence in this world based on our ability to adapt.
That's where my trade advice will be most valuable to you. When you chose a stock to buy, look at what it does. Look at the product that company creates and ask yourself if you think that product will improve the quality of life for everyone. All pseudo-scientific and religious debating aside, this does not include having a "feeling" or "faith" that a company is honest in what they are doing. Never invest in psychic reading or astrological stock trading advice. Believe in it all you want, I don't really care, but if you want to keep your money and make it grow you will stay away from such individuals when it applies to your savings.
