Economy

Cada inversión, cada compra que se realiza, apoya a la cadena completa de producción y distribución que precede al producto o servicio adquirido, y a todo ente quien contribuyó a ese proceso. Es una transmisión de "valor" potencial, una pequeña certificación de que ese producto o ese servicio le hace un bien a la sociedad, y promueve su futura repetición.

That is why buying stolen goods promotes robbery and thieves, and buying liquor and drugs promotes further vices among the rest of the society. The more value an entity has been given, the more influence it is allowed to cast upon others. That is how money works. Lately, however - for the whole of my relatively tiny life, in fact, I have learned from society, from my parents, my friends, my peers, that the value of products and services is fairly unidimensional - solely dependent upon its usefulness to oneself, and upon nothing else. But the world, as always, is far more complex than any model we might design to represent it, and if usefulness were to become our only criterion for value in this world, then all other dimensions that pertain to things and people would be devalued, disregarded, and eventually forgotten. It would be quite a shame if that were to happen.

After having thought about this for a while, I think I came to understand sayings such as "Support your local businesses" and "Fair Trade". Things make more sense when you think about the big picture.

Update Aug 21st, 2011: You sponsor what you buy.