"Is our love (worth) the same?"

"Capitalism turns love into a commodity" Is capitalism and love like that? It sounds like two poles apart, like things that cannot be converged. Are we talking about the same thing? Of course, most people who read this message must be wondering. Especially love as a commodity, because love is a beautiful thing. Are you sure that you do not view love as a commodity? This article will take you to open the world of love from an economic perspective. Although capitalism and love seem to be incompatible, in fact, you may not understand the meaning of capitalism well enough. Capitalism is about the variety of products that have options and opportunities for you to choose. When we set our standards in love, 'a handsome, fair-skinned guy, 190 cm tall, speaks 5 languages, drives a sports car, has a billion in savings', this is capitalism. If you still can't picture it, when we download dating apps, get up to put on makeup and do our hair to increase our chances of finding love, including expectations in relationships, everything is capitalism. Because capitalism is not just an economy, but capitalism is a society.

 Since capitalism prioritizes economic wealth, love seems to be commodified. Many businesses related to love have emerged, such as love confession services, dating apps, or even amulet businesses. Because love is something everyone seeks, love has been commodified "in the name of love." "The love we see so much in the world is just a similar product labeled in the name of love." I know it's risky, but I have to try.

I know it's tiring. If you want something that's high up, who wants to try it?

Has everyone ever invested in love? Oh, you don't have to answer quickly. Because in fact, you may have accidentally invested without realizing it. Some people may argue that 'Love is a feeling. Why talk about it as a business?' A survey of 100 lovers in November found that 58% of young lovers under the age of 25 tend to be obsessed with feelings. This is different from older lovers who are 25 years old and above who don't only consider feelings. It may be because age comes with overwhelming responsibilities, making it necessary to look at the bigger picture, including love. This age group thinks that 'love is more of an investment.'

"If I give you this much love, She should give me back the same amount.”

This is a sentence that many people have already judged as “this is clearly doing good for the sake of getting something back.” But believe it or not, 70% of older lovers agree with this sentence, which is completely different from young lovers. Everyone expects something from a relationship because when we grow up, we cannot have sweet love all the time. Everyone has experienced the taste of life that requires responsibility for their own duties. When choosing to have a life partner, we must plan our life and living expenses. If we choose to date someone but they live without planning for the future, our life may continue to decline. It is like investing but not getting any return and even losing money. Will you still choose to invest?

“Because the world of capitalism makes us expect ‘returns’ even in matters of love.”

Investing in love is not a modern thing. For those who have watched the movie series ‘Bridgeton’, which reflects society in 1813, the series shows finding a perfect partner who does not only look at love but also looks deeper into the partner’s ability to take care of the rest of her life. Therefore, the meeting of young men and women in the ‘social season’ is not just a sweet time to find a partner, but also includes negotiating various family businesses. Girls willingly enter the dating market to find suitable gentlemen, even though the suitability is more about benefits. In the highly competitive ‘dating market’, everyone wants to be a premium product. Therefore, before entering the market, they have to exchange with expensive expenses, investing in clothes, hair and makeup to upgrade themselves for the gentlemen to consider asking for their partner. ‘Therefore, this is considered an investment in love that has been around for 200 years.’ Now everyone should reconsider themselves before answering the above question because investing in love is closer than everyone thinks. But we have to take into account the familiar slogan ‘Every investment has risks.’

‘Love is an investment But if I like you, it doesn’t matter if I lose money.

True love is love for what? Love for the surname, love for the car brand, love that is not poor and has money to spend.

Does fame, social status, money in the bank account, education affect loving someone? “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Don’t judge a book by its cover. But the first thing we see is its appearance. We cannot deny that its appearance affects falling in love with someone because our social status or financial status is not enough to spend that much time studying someone. Nowadays, we have to present ourselves to others to see what we want because we are also products in the dating market. It’s time to use some strategies, whether it’s posting on Instagram to share our lifestyle. Those who are interested just have to follow us or create a profile on a dating app to meet our needs more accurately. These things are like cutting down the time spent getting to know each other more. Of course, each person probably has their ideal sweetheart’s specifications or the qualities of a lover that they want to have. The principle is no different from selecting and hiring employees for a company. Applicants must study the company before submitting their applications. The company must present that they are good too. But this may seem too superficial. Every company wants a model employee who is perfect. Therefore, there is an interview to get to know each other. And exchange ideas on whether we can continue or not. If we look at it in the love market, it is like dating, dating. If we pass the interview, applicants may be able to continue in the love market. But if any applicants do not continue, it is time to reconsider their own resumes… Why? Handsome, beautiful, rich, talented are best-selling products. If there are limited products in the market, handsome, beautiful, rich, talented people are also considered limited products in the love market. Therefore, if you wonder why these types of people sell like hot cakes, there is a principle that we believe that the rarer something is, the harder it is to find, and the less quantity it has, the more valuable it will be. This is clearly an economic principle. When demand is greater than supply, causing a shortage of goods, by now the line to buy limited edition goods would be so long that you could not see the end of the line. If this is the case, the dream sweetheart will just be a dream. ‘If you don’t even have money, forget about love.’ Maslow’s triangle theory shows that if we do not have a base, we will not be able to climb the ladder to reach for anything else. Therefore, it seems that social class implicitly determines our feelings. Because real life is not a soap opera that housewives like to watch before going to bed. Like the Cinderella story, which had to be shelved for a while, Pierre Bourdieu said that if people fall in love with someone with similar tastes, their background or life circumstances may not be very different. So who will be our destiny?

Being a poor person's girlfriend, you have to be patient, my dear. I don't have money to support the hardship.

'They say that love is beautiful, but when it comes to money, it's not so beautiful anymore.' We all know that 'falling in love' is not the end, it's just the beginning. And in the cruel real world, there are often many conditions that determine relationships, especially 'money'. Although money can't buy everything, money brings power and many things, including love. Does money really affect relationships? From a survey of a population full of love, it was found that money affects relationships by 96%. Even if they say that they love each other with all their heart, people still have to eat and spend money. For example, the content about who pays for each meal has people in society arguing about this issue. Even the survey results are still undecided. Some people insist that they have to pay because it's important to impress. Some say it's a man's duty. Some want to show off their status to show that they can support her. But there are also people who disagree. Splitting the bill is better. The era of men having to support women is over. This is the era of equality. It's not like she's coming because she's a man and she supports you. Men also need money. In this issue, there's no clear conclusion on which side is right or wrong. There's only the convenience of each couple. Because love is a matter between you and me, that's enough.

‘Love is just between you and me, right?’

‘Dream of having our own family, dream of growing old together’ Before the sweet dream went any further, the real world woke us up from our daydream. When people start a family with someone, love alone may not be enough. When external factors interfere with the sweet relationship, many couples end up breaking up. Surveys from lovers said that external factors do have an effect on relationships, and the top three factors are each party’s family, stability, and, of course, finances. The number one problem that couples have to say goodbye to before they can tie the knot is ‘bride price’. From an economic perspective, bride price is a price that is not traded through the market, but must go through a negotiation process to a price that both parties are satisfied with, or what is called the ‘equilibrium price’. An interesting factor affecting the asking price of a bride price is the order of marriage in the family. We often see cases where the first daughter of the family gets married and asks for a high bride price. This is a matter of marginal utility because family members have high expectations. Having read up to this point, You can only frown. What do you expect? What do you expect? The answer is easy, so easy that we can’t even imagine it. Because it’s something that has never happened before. It’s the first wedding of the family. Therefore, the property that the groom has to prepare must be respectable and create satisfaction, as it is a big family event.

I've never had luck with love. Whenever I love someone, they just act indifferently.

Of course, when it comes to love, not everyone will succeed in a relationship. Especially in the capitalist world, which is a real obstacle to love, whether it is investing, putting your heart into it, giving everything for her, but if it's not right for you, it's not right for you. Being single doesn't mean we're not chosen. But when our world moves according to the market mechanism, the same goes for love. We just compete in the wrong market segment. It is said that the new generation is starting to be afraid of heartbreak, afraid of failed relationships, afraid of wasting time with the wrong people because time is everything that is money. Many people say that they don't know how to love. When looking at the capitalist world, it's not surprising. 'The French philosopher Alain Badiou said that in the capitalist world, we love ourselves more than others. Love yourself before loving others.'

"We don't know how to love because we may be confused about whether it is love or cost-effectiveness.

Confused about love or what is appropriate for society."

True love may no longer exist, or I'm the one who made it become inauthentic. Love has been declared dead. You didn't read it wrong. Love has been declared dead in the capitalist world. For decades, due to the formation of the capitalist system, humans have mutual interests. May there be no true love? When love is linked to the ideal world that comes from marriage and family creation, marriage is branded as having interests above feelings. Love under capitalism often has self-interest as the foundation of feelings instead. Therefore, we can change partners and negotiation partners all the time. On the other hand, romantic love is like a contract that binds two people until death does them apart. The cause of love's death is related to the formation of the capitalist system. However, love is a delicate matter. We cannot use only our theories or personal feelings to judge the relationship of others. True love may exist. The capitalist world may be an obstacle when we fall in love with someone. But when we cannot escape from this capitalist world, what we should do is learn to live happily in this capitalist world. Learn to love, learn to fall, because love is something that is above all theories and logic in the world.

"When I choose to have love in the capitalist era, as long as we are both happy, our love is always equal.

This work is part of the Writing for Economic Communication course.

Major in Communication for Economics, College of Social Communication Innovation Srinakharinwirot University

1. Ms. Hritai Yingkiattinon Student ID 64130010157

2. Ms. Araya Utamat Student ID 64130010284

3. Ms. Jiratchaya Chaisri Student ID 641030010377

4. Ms. Chatchadakan Kanchanaphairoj Student ID 641030010442

5. Ms. Bandit Aueayphon Student ID 641030010448

6. Mr. Panthakon Chammali Student ID 641030010450