Comments on: The Value of Nothing in the US http://rajpatel.org/2010/01/11/the-value-of-nothing-in-the-us/ Website and Blog of writer, activist and academic, Raj Patel Mon, 14 May 2012 06:10:25 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: SV Nagappa http://rajpatel.org/2010/01/11/the-value-of-nothing-in-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-61 SV Nagappa Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:42:25 +0000 http://rajpatel.org/?p=1412#comment-61 Hi Raj, I agree so far with what you have said in the video. It suddenly occured to me why we have value for nothing these days. Majority of the stuff on the net is free!!! we dont pay for it, barter for it or even bother to ask the question that people who did prepare these blogs or documents have spent their time and effort. Today the reason why a tomato picker does not make more money is not because he/she has a low level job but the way we economically calculate the value of it. As an agriculture scientist who developes new variety for the markets I can tell you that even my work is not valued. It takes 10-12 years of work including smart genetic thinking to get a variety out and every one eats what we do but there is no value for it as it is not entertainment or a luxury item. A tomato farmer needs to get a price not at the point of sale but a percentage similar to VAT every time the tomato goes from him to the retailer, restauranter, and consumer.This has to apply to every farming enterprise so that people will value what they eat. An IPod is not the same as a tomato. Infact tomato is more valuable as if IPOds dies one is only deprived of momentary entertainment. but if all tomatoes in the world died due to some disease, our health would be afffected. This value added price and not just value added tax is important in the world for it to realize that food is important and needs to be respected. This thinking has to apply for other so called things we take for granted. A football player should not be paid more than a farmer who feeds the world. It might happen sooner than we think as land is being grabbed for more population and we as a society need to understand that houses may be useful to live but without food living does not happen. indian government is seeing how the prices of food is increasing. It will continue to happen and then people will understand the value of food. I cant get the book in Australia yet. Hi Raj, I agree so far with what you have said in the video. It suddenly occured to me why we have value for nothing these days. Majority of the stuff on the net is free!!! we dont pay for it, barter for it or even bother to ask the question that people who did prepare these blogs or documents have spent their time and effort. Today the reason why a tomato picker does not make more money is not because he/she has a low level job but the way we economically calculate the value of it. As an agriculture scientist who developes new variety for the markets I can tell you that even my work is not valued. It takes 10-12 years of work including smart genetic thinking to get a variety out and every one eats what we do but there is no value for it as it is not entertainment or a luxury item. A tomato farmer needs to get a price not at the point of sale but a percentage similar to VAT every time the tomato goes from him to the retailer, restauranter, and consumer.This has to apply to every farming enterprise so that people will value what they eat. An IPod is not the same as a tomato. Infact tomato is more valuable as if IPOds dies one is only deprived of momentary entertainment. but if all tomatoes in the world died due to some disease, our health would be afffected. This value added price and not just value added tax is important in the world for it to realize that food is important and needs to be respected. This thinking has to apply for other so called things we take for granted. A football player should not be paid more than a farmer who feeds the world. It might happen sooner than we think as land is being grabbed for more population and we as a society need to understand that houses may be useful to live but without food living does not happen. indian government is seeing how the prices of food is increasing. It will continue to happen and then people will understand the value of food. I cant get the book in Australia yet.

]]> By: Heidi Sue http://rajpatel.org/2010/01/11/the-value-of-nothing-in-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-56 Heidi Sue Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:04:27 +0000 http://rajpatel.org/?p=1412#comment-56 Glad to find the book in SF so fast--and looking forward to hearing you speak at the end of month. Curious to learn about commons for businesses. Glad to find the book in SF so fast–and looking forward to hearing you speak at the end of month.

Curious to learn about commons for businesses.

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