Economists view the price system within the macro economy as a function of supply and demand and market share. Prices can be determined by particular producers who exercise price leadership and market share in a particular industry or in a particular commodity. The allocation of resources and their scarcity is also a factor in determining price. A market mechanism normally is required to determine prices. The dictionary definition of price is “the amount of money needed to purchase an object; the cost at which something is obtained.”

Closely related to price are the words “costs”, “charge” and “value”. The “cost” of something is the total amount spent including all prices and charges. A “charge” is the sum asked for rendering a service. “Value” is defined as “the worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor; a fair price or return for goods or services; to regard highly; prize; esteem; to rate according to relative estimate of worth or desirability”; hence value encompasses price, cost and charge,” the appraisal of worth to the buyer. Be weary of the old adage from Oscar Wilde who said “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing…,”in my judgement is a man of no vision.

From a layman’s standpoint price and value go well beyond the strict definitions of economists and linguists. Human beings have been and will continue to be the beneficiaries of sacrifices paid by their ancestors. The price demanded and the price paid for progress is a prerequisite in all human endeavors not only in the buying and selling of goods and services but in human progress of lasting value; this cost can be seen and detailed in everything we do.

War is a price for peace some would argue. Christians postulate that a life of obedience followed by death is the price for salvation and eternal life after death. Great men and women such as Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela, just a few of the notables, all paid a price for the causes they believed in. And even though the extreme price was paid, their lives, what they sought to achieve has not steadfastly been secured; such is the nature of the human bargain and sale.

Men and women of lesser prominence within our individual families and without have also paid a price to advance their family’s status and freedom. Where would we be without the sacrifices of our immediate forefathers who paid a price for our current well-being. The price these people paid cannot be measured in market share, supply or in demand. We measure the price and appreciate the value these people have given through the later accomplishments of their progeny.

The Indian people of southern Asia struggled for generations the rid themselves from the shackles of white supremacy as embodied in English colonialism. But for, the sacrifices of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, and other Indian leaders at the time, the Indian nation would not have been born into permanent freedom and emancipation. Out of this struggle came the nation of Pakistan and a succession of leaders who have nurtured and managed that nation toward a progressive democracy, albeit subject to bouts of extremism. The Indian people are free today because of the price paid by their forefathers.

No success is attained without the payment of a price. An honor roll student pays the price of delayed gratification and discipline to stay home and study while others go out and play. And for that price the honor student receives the accolade of recognition and promotion, access to special opportunities not to mention the personal strengthening of growth and development that come with self- denial and hard work.

A first generation businessman pays the price to acquire a business, pay down debt with debt service payments and fights off regulators to build a business. He or she wages a battle in the market place for market share and name brand recognition. And, for that sacrifice they are rewarded with economic security if their efforts succeed and the family is able to live a financially secure life. Wealth can then be created and passed on to family members.

The correlative of price is benefit or detriment. The price paid can be paid in evil for which the result is punishment. Regardless of the endeavor whether it is good or bad, the price system is always at work.

There is no “free lunch”, regardless of the endeavor there is a price for everything. The price for poor judgement is a poor result.

Price in the human context is the effort, the work, the hardship, the payment. The result is the end product, the consequence of a particular action; you pay for what you get. You do not own it unless you paid for it.

Price is also an entry fee. The premium paid to have access to quality in certain things. For example, if you want to live in a certain neighborhood so you can send your child to a certain public school you must pay the “price” to gain entry. If you want to drive a certain car you must pay the price. Price is used by the political system as an artifice for racial separation. When overt racism is no longer in vogue the economic system becomes the tool. Barriers are constructed with price tags instead of with laws of discrimination, standards are set to bar people from access.
There is a price or costs for everything including good health. You must exercise and eat from a proper diet to achieve the best health available to you. A lack of discipline, a failure to exercise and eat properly results in poor health, a restricted life style and an early death. You can die healthy or you can die sick a cardiologist once told me.

Abraham Lincoln paid the price of his life for his political position that The United States of America should be one nation without slavery. The United States paid a heavy price for its racists views that Africans were inferior to whites. More than six hundred thousand men lost their lives because America could not agree that Africans should not be enslaved; these men lost their lives over the role of racism in society. Even after the monumental sacrifices in blood and treasure during the civil war post, civil war segregation carried with it the price of under utilization of a valuable human resource; productive people in our society were sidelined and cast away because of racism.

Martin Luther King paid with his life so that American blacks could live in dignity and freedom. Without his sacrifice and the sacrifices of many others, including Fanny Lue Hamer, Mary McCleod Bethune, Thurgood Marshall just to name a few and other esteemed black leaders who were the proponents of the voting rights acts and the public accommodations acts these laws would not be on the books today; overt segregation and Jim Crow would still exists. As George Wallace, the notorious southern governor remarked during one his clamorous orations, “segregation today, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever”.

Tears come to my eyes when I think about my poor mother after she and dad were married and purchased our first home in Richmond, Virginia. We had no dishes and silverware after buying the house. My mother went into the old garage in back of the house, found some old dishes and silverware buried in the dirt and washed the plates, folks and knives so we could have eating utensils with which to eat. Here again, a price demanded, a price paid, the sacrifices made to live a better life. My father worked two and sometime three jobs to make ends meet. He worked in a dairy, he waited tables; my mother worked as maid and housekeeper in white folk’s houses to support the family. These were college educated people burdened by the color of their skins trying to eke out a living in the segregated south to make a life for themselves and their family.

What do you say to that?!