'Dead air' is an absolute no-no on radio. Every second must be filled.
Jack Benny was perhaps the only radio comedian who could get a monstrous
wave of laughter out of 5 seconds of 'dead air'!
There is a problem with defining 'words'. We shouldn't do it.
Properly, we should start with a concept and then define it - which means
putting a fence around it. That's the most difficult part of the exercise
Finally, we should name it - put a label on it.
If we have done a good job, the question becomes - does something fit within
the fence or is it outside. In other words, the argument is not about the
defined concept, but about whether something fits into it.
Now, when Marx, Mill, Freud, or Foucault, raise questions about 'voluntary',
the question is what do they mean by voluntary? Do they accept a "defined
concept" and, if so, what is it? And is it the same defined concept used by
the others.
It is likely that these four (and the legion) all have different defined
concepts or, as even more likely, they have no defined concept at all.
Perhaps I'm being unkind.
The classical meaning of 'wealth' is uncomplicated and reasonably
straightforward.
The 'defined concept' for wealth is that it is any material product of labor
that is in the hands of the consumer. When the product reaches the consumer,
production ends and use, or consumption, begins.
Or we might note that during production, the value of the 'material product'
increases (Capital). In the hands of the consumer, the value of the material
product declines (Wealth).
Harry Pollard
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