Price. Decisions. Exchange.
My number one Notgrass History task right now is editing Ray’s update of Exploring Economics. He begins each lesson with a quote. One of my favorites so far is this:
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.
— Henry David Thoreau
Decisions, decisions. Every time we make an exchange we make a decision.
Economics is about decisions. Should Company A make widgets or thingamajigs? How much raw material does it take to make a widget? How much labor will the company need to make thingamajigs? Do women in their thirties prefer widgets or thingamajigs? Do they have the disposable income to buy either one? How will Company A’s methodology for making widgets affect the environment? What kind of governmental regulations must Company A meet if it makes thingamajigs? If Company A makes widgets, will it have the resources needed to make thingamajigs, too?
Decisions, decisions. Again, every time we make an exchange we make a decision.
Do I want to exchange this $30 for a fast food meal or do I want to put it in the bank and repeat the same kind of decision again and again so we can go see Mount Rushmore some day? Do I want to spend the next twenty minutes on Facebook or reading a chapter aloud from The Bronze Bow? If every mama had a written job description, it would have to include a section about making decisions. We make decisions about so many, many things.
Every day has 24 hours.
Every week has 7 days. Every childhood has eighteen or twenty or twenty-one years, depending on who is defining it.
I am so proud of you for making the decision to spend your days with your children during those hours, weeks, and years, because, as Thoreau wisely said, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
Jesus said this about price and decisions and exchange.
The kingdom of heaven
is like a treasure hidden in the field,
which a man found and hid again;
and from joy over it he goes
and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,
and upon finding one pearl of great value,
he went and sold all that he had
and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46
I didn’t start out this blog to share a video, but maybe you’d like to watch “Decisions, Decisions” one more time.