[MD] Capitalism: my experience

[Ham Priday]

Arlo --


 [Ham, previously]:
> If monetary reward was my only incentive, I have failed miserably.
> Obviously, I have a personal interest in philosophy and a desire to
> share my thoughts with others.  These are incentive enough for me.

[Arlo]:
> Then why do you say that without monetary reward nothing of
> value would be made? Are you exempt from the lure of money
> that infects the masses?

As usual, you are splitting hairs to win an argument, Arlo.  What you 
deprecate as "the lure of money" is nothing more than reciprocation for 
one's work output.  The point I tried to make to Gav was that the real value 
of human labor is the workmanship of the product or quality of the service 
we provide, not the dollar value we put on it.

In a free-market economy, the value of goods and services is determined by 
the price the customer is willing to pay.  Market price is the measure by 
which the producer sets his employees' salary levels, budgets his 
manufacturing and distribution costs, and gages his profit share.  That the 
free market is the most efficient and benefical system for mass commerce is 
demonstrated by its adoption thoughout the industrial world.

In a barter (or auction) system, goods are sold to the highest bidder or 
exchanged for other goods of comparable value to the seller.  Bartering 
still finds practical use in local farmer's market situations and certain 
E-Bay transactions, but is not a feasible system for the commercial market 
at large.

Book marketing is a special situation in that the author trades on his/her 
reputation, is subject to the policies and literary genre of the publisher, 
and must meet the whims or fancies of the reading public.  Non-fiction works 
on esoteric topics like economy, sociology, and philosophy are generally 
marketed as 'trade books'.  As I had no creditable expertise (curriculum 
vitae) as a writer or philosopher, I decided to self-publish my book.  (For 
the uninitiated, this means having to pay not only for the mechanical 
production, but for every step in the marketing process--art and graphics, 
distribution, promotion, buyers' lists, independent reviews, signing 
presentations, etc.)

Having limited means, I did this 'on the cheap', creating my own graphics, 
doing my own editing, and foregoing several of the customary (but expensive) 
steps.  I'm still hoping to get the exposure of a "free book review", 
especially one that targets academia and philosophy seekers, but so far have 
been limited to the mailing list  Xlibris has billed me for.  If nothing 
else, this venture into book publishing was a learning experience for me.

Obviously, not all things of value are produced for money.  As to your 
specific  question, my primary motivation was to have others consider (and 
benefit personally from) a Philosophy of Essence that I've developed over a 
half-century of inquiry and introspection.  As a secondary goal, I had hoped 
to recover at least the cost of my investment in this project.  While this 
is still possible, it will require considerably more intitiative on my part. 
And I'd sooner discuss philosophy with people I know are interested than 
spend my final years trying to market it.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, Arlo, and thank you for your 
interest in my new career as an "author".

Cheers,
Ham