Keep talking

Socrato:  By wealth do you mean currency or do you mean value?

Rockamellon:  My dear Socrato, I am so glad you asked!  I mean both.  So many people accuse business people of being heartless lovers of money... and while we do love money, we love value more than money.  Money is, after all, only one kind of value.

Socrato:  Please continue with this line of thought.  What else is value?

Rockamellon:  Anything that someone wants is of value, Socrato.  Many things of value have a price attached to them - like food, clothes, housing and other goods but many things do not have a price.

Socrato:  What are some things of value that do not have a price?

Rockamellon:  Well safety, for one thing.  Think of the value that the state provides us with by keeping enemy armies at bay.

Socrato:  I see.  But doesn't that protection come at a price - the price of maintaining our own armies and diplomacy?

Rockamellon:  Well yes, we do spend money on those things but the feeling of safety itself has a value that has no price.

Socrato:  Isn't it true that the hotter it gets at a baseball game, the more beer the fans will drink?

Rockamellon:  I don't see the connection, Socrato.

Socrato:  I was merely thinking that the feeling of being hot is somewhat like the feeling of being safe.

Rockamellon:  I don't follow you at all, Socrato.

Socrato:  Isn't it true that the safer someone feels, the more likely they are to go out and contribute to society at large?

Rockamellon:  That sounds accurate, yes.

Socrato:  And isn't it true - particularly through the eyes of a businessman - that part of the contribution of a citizen involves going about and spending money?

Rockamellon:  That also sounds accurate.

Socrato.  Well then, it seems that the feeling of safety does in fact have a value.  The safer someone feels, the more likely they are to do business.

Rockamellon:  I can't disagree with your logic, Socrato.