Trade, swap, barter...
Today it's whatever the corporation tells you it is. You either pay it or don't.
I remember watching little house on the prairie and Caroline (the mom) would bring eggs to the town store.
And she would trade those for sugar and coffee and maybe some ribbon or fabric to make a shirt or a dress.
Sometimes they would run a credit on the store until Charles (the dad) who worked at the lumber mill would pay it back.
So the price would be set by the mercantile who ordered their goods from other places.
But how much was the value of an egg?
or a piece of ribbon?
How many eggs for a ribbon?
Supply and demand.
I remember another time. They lived on a prairie and grew their own crop. I forget if it was wheat or cotton.
And they went to town to trade in the seed but there was such an abundance that year that the price for the seed went down.
So then again, you had to take it or find someone else to trade with and make a better deal.
Doc Baker would receive goods for his services. Sometimes chickens, pies, invited for dinner.
It was the way the communites worked back then.
Small government and local hospitality.
Ofcourse the church played a big role. People would come together for sunday services and sometimes the pastor would ask the community for help for someone that was having a hardship.
People pulled together. Like in the book of Acts.
Then there was "progress" .
The towns grew bigger, banks took up residence. And people began relying on bank loans instead of each other.
Kind of like government handouts today.
The whole banking system is a scam.
And some people not as generous as Doc Baker would make you sell the farm to pay the medical bill.
It all comes down to the character of people. What's in the heart.
Are you helping because you love your neighbor or are you doing it out of selfish gain?
I determine the value by what's in my pocketbook.
I buy mostly generic or store brand name foods. I can't see paying for the printing on the box. I can't eat it. And it tastes just as good.
I have a couple farm stands around so I try to buy my veggies from them, and a few people along the road who sell eggs.
Have to be careful though.. some people buy groceries from the store and then charge you extra so they can make the profit.
$3.00 a dozen eggs from the neighbor down the road. A bit more expensive then the store. But they have to buy the chicken feed, maintain the coop year round, collect the eggs every morning. And their fresh. They work for it. Not like the eggs you get from the chicken mills where they have machines do it and the chickens aren't free to roam...
So I guess the value is determined by who's buying.
And how much they need it.
It all comes down to supply and demand and whether you want to do business with a fair person or a crook.
In my opinion.
Mat 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
Mat 21:13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Pro 11:1 A false balance
is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight
is his delight.
Hugs