Producers and Consumers

One who produces nothing lacks the capacity to appraise anything

Photo by Dane Kelly on Unsplash

Those who don’t create cannot possibly know the value of things. They can know the price, but not the value, for consumption, by its nature, is different from production.

I spend time each week writing a newsletter that is read in 5 minutes. I know those who read appreciate the effort put into creating these weekly essays, but I do not expect that reading them is as hard as writing them. I know because I am a reader too, and I consume in minutes what took someone many hours to produce.

I consume many other things as well—books, movies, documentaries. I appreciate the work that goes into making them, but I don’t think I can have the whole picture regarding the creation and production of these commodities and services.

There is a misperception that some have, and it is that they can learn the effort and discipline of making something by consuming it. They think they are really aware enough to; they think they care enough to know theoretically. Something else makes them even more sure: they pay for these things.

Prices are determined by markets, and markets do have their imperfections. Some things are overvalued while others are undervalued. Some may not even feature formally to be assigned any price or value.

You cannot know the value of something by consuming it, and even when you are conscious enough to think about it, you won’t go far enough. But there is something that can give you an idea, and it is that you produce something, too.

I cannot possibly know what it takes to produce a song, and that I can consume and enjoy it is far from enough appreciation. But I do know what it takes to produce a piece of writing, and this can be a basis for valuing the work of others.

A lawyer values the services of an accountant because he knows what it takes to produce legal services. It is this understanding that makes him, a consumer of accounting, appreciate what it takes, even if this appreciation will be insufficient.

You must be wary of people who do not produce anything, for they lack the position and understanding to value anything. To them, things come easy; they just appear and then disappear after they’ve been consumed.