Every exchange is individually advantageous given its actual circumstances

Evidence

If, in the poem of Chamisso, the highwayman with pistol drawn compels the victim to sell his watch and ring for three coppers, the fact is that under the circumstances, since the victim could not otherwise save his life, the thing obtained in exchange is actually worth the price. No one would work for starvation wages if, in the situation in which he actually found himself, he did not prefer this wage to not working. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 255

Categorization

• SHARE: The highwayman example is instantly quotable for a colleague teaching exchange theory or using Simmel in a seminar.
• XREF: connects to: Exchange stands as the purest form of human interaction and rationalizes daily life. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 217; Exchange creates value such that the sum exceeds what each party held. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 219; Every interaction, including love and conversation, is a form of exchange. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 219 (+9 more)

Related

• Exchange value is always judged relative to the moment’s circumstances (similarity 0.86)
• Exchange creates value such that the sum exceeds what each party held. (similarity 0.86)
• Exchange stands as the purest form of human interaction and rationalizes daily life. (similarity 0.85)
• Exchange creates value as genuinely as production does. (similarity 0.84)
• Exchange itself, not utility or scarcity, creates economic value. (similarity 0.84)
• Narrow self-interest does not automatically produce efficient exchange (similarity 0.83)
• Two-person exchange is a subspecies of the individual’s internal sacrifice-and-gain. (similarity 0.82)
• Every interaction, including love and conversation, is a form of exchange. (similarity 0.82)
• Economic value arises only through sacrifice and exchange (similarity 0.80)
• Economic value emerges through the distance exchange creates between self and object (similarity 0.79)
• Exchange is a change within each party, not a thing between them. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Exchange itself, not utility or scarcity, creates economic value. #expands (0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 261
• Economic value emerges through the distance exchange creates between self and object #expands (0.55) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 250
• Market ideology conceals exploitation by making exchange stand in for production #complicates (0.55)
• The sphere of exchange generates capitalism’s spontaneous commonsense and bourgeois theory #expands (0.50)