(Thread) "I know that the economic thing to do is X, but because of this emotional/relational/spiritual/cultural aspect, we should do Y." The word "commodify" often makes an appearance, in a negative way.

There is no economic/non-economic distinction in the choices you make.

"Economic" is incorrectly taken to mean "relating to money profit maximization." Economics includes that, but it also includes decisions in which money or consumption is forgone for some higher-valued state of affairs, perhaps one in which another person receives your money or...

gift in kind. Our preferences (which are the ultimate given in economics) are arranged based on our value of money, family, God, burritos, tradition, widgets, community, etc.
The reason this matters is that people say they are fine with the general conclusions of economic...

theory (markets work, price controls don't, "capitalism rewards efficiency", etc.), and then they add a big "BUT". The BUT is always some allowance for governments to fix what would occur in an unhampered market, because "economics isn't everything." But everything everybody...

values *is* the ultimate given in economics.
I blame all of this on homo economicus, and credit Rothbard (mainly) for clearly articulating the logic of human action in such a way as to leave the particulars of what an individual values unspecified. This means that the...

economizing result of individual action and the unhampered market economy applies to apples and dinner with the family, producing cell phones and organizing church services, casino gambling and Christmas gift-giving.

Economics is not exclusively materialistic because our preferences aren't exclusively materialistic.