Selling Out, or the Value of Money

How We Can Do Better Than This

I’ve always done a lot of handcrafts. I enjoy creating clothing, household items, gifts, you name it. Weaving, spinning, sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting. If it’s a handcraft, I’ve probably done it.

That’s one of my handwoven jackets in the picture above; it has since gone on to another home. One of the hazards of creating things is that you eventually run out of room to store them. So I find myself giving away a lot of my handmade items as gifts.

That’s where I start running afoul of the hidden, or not-so-hidden, values that underpin the culture I live in.

I’m reasonably competent at most of the crafts that I practice, in an era when fewer and fewer people even know how to sew on a button. So except for my similarly-crafty friends, most people are pretty impressed by my skill level (when of course my great-grandmothers might have had a different opinion! lol).

And when people see the things I make, the single most common compliment I receive is: “This is great! You should sell these!”

I smile and thank them and then bite my tongue, because they mean well. They just don’t realize what they’re really saying. I mean, besides the fact that no one would be willing to pay the price if I calculated even my state’s meager minimum wage for my labor plus the cost of materials.

Why is the highest compliment for something you've made, “You should sell those?” What does that say about value in our society?

It points to the idea that the purpose of any skill, or any object that skill creates, is to make money in the marketplace. The underlying assumption, the bit that we don’t like to look at too closely or talk about too loudly, is that the only way to define value is via how much money something can bring if you sell it.

In other words, if it’s unable to bring in money somehow, it has no value.

What does this idea say about our culture? What does it say about the way we value not just the pleasure that hobbies bring us, but the extensive unpaid labor that people (mostly women) invest in caring for others, from children to the elderly?

Do child-rearing, homemaking, and elder care have no value?

Does spending time on hobbies that we enjoy have no value?

Does taking time off to “do all the nothing you want” have no value?

Does spending time hanging out with people you care about have no value?

Do people who are unable to work for a living due to disability, illness, or age have no value?

We like to talk about how gender is a construct, how race is a construct. Well, guess what? Money is a construct, too. And we’ve twisted ourselves around to think that it’s the way we should judge how much value any activity - or any human being or non-human animal or natural resource - has.

I’m tempted to just rant about extremes of poverty and wealth and other kinds of inequality and the destruction of the natural world to extract ever more resources. But instead of shouting, I think today I’ll take a breath and offer some possibilities for hope… and change.

If you haven’t already read Riane Eisler’s excellent book The Real Wealth of Nations, I recommend it. Your local library may have it, and it’s available to borrow from the online library at archive dot org. Here’s an interview in which she talks about these concepts, about centering caring and compassion in order to nurture our common humanity. She even gave a speech about these ideas at Bretton Woods the year before the pandemic hit.

You might like to find out more about the idea of a caring economy, one in which nurturing, caring, and community have real value. Nancy Folbre’s book The Invisible Heart offers possibilities for balancing caregiving and other societal activities. Here’s an interview with her that briefly discusses some of the issues she addresses.

Even the UN thinks a caring economy is a good idea.

Why do I think we can do this? Why do I think this is possible? Because we’ve done it before.

As much as some archaeologists and historians just can’t stand the idea, there’s ample evidence that the Minoans had a caring/sharing economy, at least until the Mycenaean occupation of Crete. This was likely a continuation of Neolithic matrilineal societal structure which was far more egalitarian than we’ve been led to believe.

Not a utopia or a mythical golden age, but communities of ordinary, imperfect human beings working together to make sure everyone has what they need and no one is left out. Caring for each other, because their society valued that.

A lot of people don’t want to believe we had this kind of culture once before. Because if something like that existed centuries ago, we really have no excuse for continuing on this damaging and dangerous path that we’re on now. And that’s an uncomfortable thought.

It’s not easy to make the kinds of changes I’m talking about. But if we did it before, we can do it again.

I have hope. How about you?

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About Laura Perry

I'm an author, artist, and creator who works magic with words, paint, ink, music, textiles, and herbs. I'm the founder and Temple Mom of Ariadne's Tribe, an inclusive Minoan spiritual tradition. My spiritual practice also includes spirit work and herbalism through the lens of lifelong animism. I write Pagan / polytheist non-fiction and fiction across several different subjects and genres. I'm currently working on an illustrated book of modern Minoan myths. I’m also an avid gardener and living history demonstrator.

You can find my books and Tarot deck on my website, where you can also find my social media links.