When I picked up “The Value of Nothing – How to reshape market society and redefine democracy” by Raj Patel – I was thinking it was about the ‘free’ economy – which the web is famous for. I thought the premise was that a price does not always equate to value. Because it’s true that just because something doesn’t have a high price it can still have significant value.
This book was not that – it was a argument against much of the market economy. Frankly capitalism and the market economy has some issues which the recesion made clear. This book was a history lesson in economics – much of an argument against our current economic system.
This was a hard book to read as it was both not what I was expecting and it felt way out there. That said I felt it was important to finish the book – as I think it’s important that we hear opposing points of view – who knows – we may learn something. We still don’t have to agree – but we can seek to understand.
Toward the end of the book there was interesting examples of modern participatory democracy. One of the interesting points they made was that consensus takes time – and is messy. I think that applies to life and business – as consensus does take time – even if it’s best.
So I’d have a hard time recommending this book – except for the fact to challenge yourself..
