Hi @noelanichalmers , I enjoyed reading your insight on the articles provided this week. I especially liked your take on the first article. I do understand your point of view, however, I did not think of it as directed at someone who primarily thinks money can buy happiness. That is certainly one way that money could be viewed as evil though. For me, I thought the main idea of this article was the talking about how some individuals obtain money in ways that are illegal, like stealing or looting, so if someone obtains their money this way, they will not be happy. People who steal to get money are never as content as the ones who earn their money truthfully. From your primary reading example, I also agree that I would trade someone for a Red Bull drink. Red Bulls are one of my favorite energy drinks and I love drinking them almost daily. However, they can be quite expense, so if someone wanted to trade one for $4.11, I think I would probably just go to Walmart and get 12 for $20 since it is a better deal. The quote you used was a good example of this difference in value. Per your essay,
“The result is an established “price” that, because it incorporates all of the involved individuals’ valuations at that moment, reflects the joint subjective valuation of apples with respect to the subjective valuation of money—for both buyers and sellers” (Bylund 2016).
This really stood out to me because it is true, our prices are based on how much each individual person values the goods or services. Lastly, I agree with your statements about the stability of money. Some individuals in our society today do not understand the value of money and use it without paying attention to how easy it is to run out of. And some, who are on the other end of the spectrum, save every penny they make without enjoying the fruits of their hard work. The stability of money is to find the balance of earning money to live a comfortable life, buying what allows the person to have happiness, but not wasting it buying too much. Overall, you and I have similar opinions on these readings, so I was glad I got to read your essay, even though we had different points of view on the first article in your essay.