11.08.08

People are assets, not things

Posted in home life at 8:06 pm by Administrator

On a recent post some discussion came about over this statement “People are assets, not things”. (Thom Beauchamp, AC)

“First, the principle that “people are assets” should be clearly understood. This means that there is no intrinsic value in things. No matter how often an advertisement or price tag may appear to contradict things have no value. So therefore, the value of a 3D model, or a car, or a video game is zero, by itself. Value is in the people who created the object, not the object itself.” A great post Mr. Beauchamp!

Economics teaches us that “exchange creates wealth”. People establish value, and when exchange takes place with integrity both parties equally benefit or are wealthier for the exchange.

In business people are exchanged, they are replaceable. This is not in conflict with people being assets. When two people or parties do not enjoy a benefit from their relationship, they suffer from an imbalance in the value provided or given. Generally this leads to a reassessment of values and /or creating an opportunity where the exchange can return to a mutually rewarding position.

Consider GM, when they lay off people they decrease assets. They cannot produce automobiles without people. They may have a certain amount of cash or other thing assets on hand, but without producing a product, which requires people, they cannot increase their wealth. People have an amazing ability to create. Things do not create value, people do. The trick is producing a product that is preferred in the moment. The value that we place on things is determined by the preference we place upon something at a particular period of time.

In a family, people create value in a relationship where exchange takes place and both are equally wealthier from the experience. Adjustments must be made when the balance of exchange creates unequal wealth. What are our greatest assets?

There are many lessons to be taken from this concept. The point of controversy seems to be that people are not assets. I must agree that people are not only assets. However, it is a quality that cannot be denied. Perhaps we need a more accurate word, one without the connotation of being owned. If not “asset”, then what?

Permalink