Freedom from Value?

Today I went to the Santa Clause Parade, which was awesome (although it started snowing near the beginning, and then turned into a mini blizzard, and then all the snow melted, so everyone was wet, and the wind was blowing so I think I might have a cold). But I couldn’t understand how half the things on the floats related to Christmas. It was cool, but still- a Pizza Pizza float? Really? Corporate sponsorship was repeated numerous times to me, and yeah, okay, I get that. But what is that saying about Christmas? And Santa Claus proclaiming the end of the parade that the fruits and veggies that could be bought from the store behind us were a preferred alternate to the cookies left out by little kids everywhere Christmas Eve wasn’t really the message about Christmas I was hoping for. The parade was fun- I bought four apples and some strawberries from said store and I saw a girl I played hockey with last year in the parade cheerleading, but it wasn’t fun because it was a Santa Parade. It was fun because it was a parade.

Also- yesterday I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario, hereinafter referred to as AGO, with Robbie. That was fun. It completely failed, and the planned day went horribly askew, but it was a lot of fun. I’m going to miss her. Which brings me to something that’s been bothering me for a little while.

What is it about today’s consumerist society that makes the every day person drop everything and run to anything that’s advertised as ‘free’?

Maybe ‘every day person’ is a bit of an overhaul- but you have to admit, free stuff attracts almost everyone. Who cares if you don’t actually need whatever it is that the promoters are promoting; it’s free! You’ll take it! 

Take for instance, the AGO. Now, I assume that on any given day no more than a hundred or so people pass through its doors to be wowed by the artistic experience it provides. Well, if we’re talking about the social experience and cultural awakening, the number drops dramatically into the single digits (note the bitterness; credit to FACS1900), but honestly, taking into account my complete lack of realistic statistics- all in all, not a lot. And yet there are people who will stand in line for hours on end to see the ‘grand reopening’ in a metaphoric monsoon, attracted to the AGO because of the simple fact that… there’s free admission. Why is there such an attraction to these types of things?

Yes, I do admit that I am one of those people. But I am also a poor student. Who is currently being fucked over by a TA strike. Free Toronto attractions are like what Bella is for Edward –although not quite the same because I, being Edward, would actually not be able to resist the ‘sweet smell’ and therefore devour Bella in a heartbeat, ending the series to the dismay of millions of fans and chiefly two of my three best friends… anyways… the point being, I have an excuse to be mindlessly attracted to anything free. I’m looking for experience. I’m looking for new things. I’m looking for anything that’ll occupy my mind for no more than a two-way bus fare, and kudos if I can find something for less than that. Goshdarn, I’m looking for culture! (in the not FACS1900 way)... (damn course)…

Okay, yes, there are people out there who do not grasp at any materialistic thing without a price tag attached. Yes, I know those kinds of people. No, I am not one of those people. Why is there a difference between these kinds of people?

Is it because everything materialistic in our society has been assigned monetary value, and those without one are perceived by consumers to have more other-kind-of value? And let’s move past the obvious answer and actually think about that. Do it. Honestly. Because that’s where I get stuck. 

Let’s imagine a paper towel product, one free and one bought. Both perform the same function. Both cost the same for the supplier to make. They are interchangeable, one the same to you as the other.

But is the one that you paid for more valuable to you, or the one that you did not pay for? There isn’t a set answer; it’s just something to think about. And when you have your answer, ask yourself why that is. Move past the obvious- the sentimental: because I worked for the money to buy it, or the monetary: because I still have the money I would have used to buy it, and have therefore actually made money off it in an odd, odd way. What about that product makes it more or less valuable to you?

Even past the materialistic sense of value- Loyalty has value. Friendship has value. Trust has value. Love has value. Independence has value. Memory has value, opportunity, judgment, human rights, dissent; all of these things have value. Some of these even, in the right situations, have a price tag attached… 

And all of these things are free… 

So what makes one thing more valuable than the other, when there is no assigned value? If someone is loyal, but does not love you, is that person more to you than someone who loves you but is not loyal?

Is there one that obviously has more value than the other? Or is value completely subjective? Completely objective? Why do we even judge things in terms of 'value' and 'unvaluable'? Why not judge in the realistic sense? Is there something that has no value whatsoever? But then how can something be judged in relation to value and not have value?  I don’t know. I applaud those who do. Who really, really, truly, deeply do…