It was established that the Theory of Value employed by the Work-Standard operates on its own paradigm. Practical applications of the Work-Standard do not rely on either the Labor Theory of Value (LTV), the Subjective and Utility Theories of Value (STV and UTV respectively), or the less-known ones like the Cost-of-Production and Power Theories of Value (CPTV and PTV respectively). Although it is possible that its Theory of Value bears superficial resemblances to LTV on paper, the differences are more obvious in its theoretical and practical applications.

The best way to identify it is to revisit the significance of the Water-Diamond Paradox. The Water-Diamond Paradox raised the question of why diamonds would be given a higher Price than water. All of the other Theories of Value suggested that diamonds received their intended Price because of the materials, the labor and Zeit needed to produce them; the preferences of the consumer in receiving the most pleasure for the least pain at first opportunity; taxation rates and manufacturing costs; its Scarcity compared to the Availability of water; and the Will-to-Power of Kapital in enforcing the Price. Each Theory of Value is an interpretation intended to rationalize why the diamonds have a higher Price. Insofar as the Work-Standard is concerned, is there a justification behind diamonds being expensive?  

Under the Work-Standard, the high Price of diamonds is affected by the physical, mental and spiritual commitment of Life-Energy toward a Vocation for the creation of Arbeit and its later subsequent registration into the Central Bank’s Life-Energy Reserve as part of the Life-Energization Reciprocity (LER) Process. Here, it becomes possible to argue that the diamonds got its Price due to the Intents of Command and Obedience, implying that specific social relations in the means of production had created the conditions for diamonds to be priced at a certain amount.

• Command: A Vocation responsible for harvesting the diamonds was able to achieve “Economic Socialization” because harvesting them had set the precedent for additional Arbeit to accrue from other Vocations that needed it. That can range from industrial applications like infrared optics and cutting tools to more mundane ones like semiconductors and jewelry.
• Obedience: There is a possibility that the diamonds themselves increased the likelihood of “Meaningful Work” a Force Multiplier (FM) in itself for the Vocations handling them. As an FM, it can tilt in favor of either Work-Intensity (WI) or Work-Productivity (WP). For WI, the diamonds are priced higher to deter hoarding and prevent shortages; for WP, the diamonds are priced higher for their strategic importance and had been allowed to accrue Attrition.
• Intent: A State Commissariat of Wages and Prices, following the Intents of the Vocations involved with the diamonds, had agreed that the Price should be higher. The State will now enforce this Price until a change in conditions permits the Price to increase or decrease.

In essence, what influences the Value of the diamonds was the Intents of Command and Obedience in relation to the overall balance between WI and WP. What influences the Price of the diamonds themselves is WP and whether enough FMs exist to tilt the balance in its favor. The State Commissariats must socialize with the Vocations involved, reach an agreement on the Prices within the framework of a Council Democracy, and help the State enforce the Price until changing circumstances warrant the need to alter the Price again.

That leaves the justification for why water is less expensive than diamonds. The related Vocations and State Commissariats have a Constitutional Intent informing them that water should be available for all based on a corresponding “Constitutional Obligation in the Service of All for All.” The Constitutional Intent is not necessarily going to be an “Explicit Intent” under the Constitution, where one could find everything written verbatim. It is more likely, however, that the Constitutional Intent itself is an “Implicit Intent” because the Reference and Relevance of that Constitutional Obligation is not going to be exclusive to the “Legal Duties” of specific Vocations tasked with the collection, purification, and distribution of water as well as the “Legal Right” to ensure that water will have a lower Price lower than diamonds.

What then would be the appropriate designation for the Work-Standard’s distinct Theory of Value? The term “Reciprocal Theory of Value (RTV)” is suitable enough to describe the decision-making processes at play here. It all refers back to the LER Process, including the Life-Energy created from the commitment of physical, mental and spiritual energy to all Vocations by everyone was what facilitated the creation of Arbeit. The common theme shared by all but one of the aforementioned Theories of Value is the flawed conclusion that the economic life of whole countries occurs independently from their concurring political life, as if isolated from the everyday social relations of the Totality and the State. The obvious exception is Marxist Theory’s LTV, which did not fully distinguish itself from the original conception of LTV devised by Adam Smith, hence the Cost-of-Production Theory of Value from Volume I of Das Kapital.

The implications of RTV alone indicate the idea that the Arbeit backing the Value of Sociable Currency under the Work-Standard is a “Quality of Arbeit (QW)” as opposed to a ‘Quantity of Arbeit’, which would have been the logical conclusion from the other Theories of Value. Moreover, RTV even suggests the presence of a corresponding “Theory of Money.”

Categories: Compendium

Tags: Economics, Finance, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Socialist Finance, Third Place, Work-Standard