This question <156|345-1> overall <161-1|162-1> Hans: <161|165>.

Question 239: Are commodities selfish?

[162] Hans: The Selfish Nun   Che [156] agrees that commodities are selfish because they have their own will and because they are only interested in their value.

But having one's own will does not necessarilty imply that one is selfish, it can simply mean that one is independent or lives one's convictions. And the interest in its value is a very abstract interest; the commodity does not care about the use value in which its value is realized. Besides, the commodity needs some other commodity to realize its value, this makes it a very social being, not something one would associate with selfishness. I think the commodity can be better compared with a nun, who is single-mindedly interested in her afterlife, than with a selfish individual.

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