Thought-Provoker: commodification, an essentiality of Capitalism (commodification series part 1)

Commodification resides alongside consumerism and the need to earn money in order to survive, as an essential foundation and requirement of a Capitalist economy.

Commodification is the process by which market potential is assigned to products, services, ideas and information. Commodification is also the process whereby solutions are created for problems that don’t really exist. For example, the medicalization of normality, and the development of gratuitous and frivolous products that are essential to no one. Therefore, commodity production is not necessarily determined by use value, instead, commodity production is based on potential exchange value. An exchange value can be assigned to anything that has a potential to produce income for the proponent of the commodity. Commodification then, is the process of creating market place niches.

A Capitalist economy requires the proliferation of commodification. In essence, as time goes by, we see a monetary value being applied to an increasing array of consumables ranging from, ideas and services to tangible products. But not only are novel and previously unheard of products and services of all types being generated for consumption, there is increased handling of these products by intermediaries also hoping to profit from them.

What can be commodified? In essence, just about anything and everything. Aside from the assortment of daily consumables and goods that many people can readily relate to, we see for example, words of a language being trademarked, ideas patented, genetic life forms owned, and business enterprise buying debts from other organizations in order to legally recover money owing from the original debtor. These are but a few examples of functions undertaken in order to commodify products and services. Even our personal and private information is being scooped up by social media, email services and other online information gathering sources, in order to be sold off to other business entities.

There are a number of factors allowing increased commodification that some people may not immediately recognize. These include, but are not limited to, ever increasing technology, scientific reductionism and increased specialization, increased bureaucracy resulting from complex legal requirements and policy formation, increases in the number of organizational intermediary and regulatory bodies, the rise of the port-folio worker, and stronger and more invasive marketing forces. Indeed, rapid technological innovation is an enormous contributor to the proliferation of commodification because it has enabled the commercialization of previously unrecognized and unexplored products and services, such as, all that is cyberspace related.

We see other 'product's commodified as well. For example, there is the commodification of imperialism and war, censorship, environmentalism, death and funerary practices, litigation and the pursuit of financial compensation, politics, and a whole new range of consumables arising from the risk-averse society (e.g., the OH&S industry).

Where does all this stop you might ask? It can't stop because a Capitalist economy relies on commodification to survive and proliferate.