First of all, those burning pine trees had no exchange value just growing on the mountainside. Whatever their experiential value to someone taking a walk in their shade, enjoying the smell of their resin, listening to the music of the breeze in their branches – a value that is incalculable – their exchange value is zero because they are not

These two types of values, experiential and exchange, couldn’t be more different from one another. Yet very often in today’s societies, just as all goods are thought of as commodities, so all values are measured – by economists, at any rate – as if they were exchange values. Anything without a price, anything that can’t be sold, tends to be

In Ecuador for example the constitution has been amended in order to recognize the rainforest’s right to protection as if this were an invaluable end in itself, regardless of its exchange value – a first in constitutional history.

Here is one idea for how to align humanity’s interests with the rise of the machines. Very briefly, this simple, practical measure would be for a portion of the machines of every company to become the property of everyone – with the percentage of profits corresponding to that portion flowing into a common fund to be shared equally by all. Consider

Margaret Atwood’s Payback,

In a democracy we have one single vote each. This is a prerequisite for the Greek concept of isegoria: giving different views equal weight. In markets, however, the number of votes one has is determined by one’s wealth.

Since it belongs to everyone, it belongs to no one.

Having accepted that money is inescapably political, there is only one thing we can do to civilize it: democratize it! Give the power to control it to the people on the basis of one person, one vote. It is the only defensible way we know.

In economic parlance this practice of buying for a lower price in one market and selling for a higher price in another is called arbitrage.