This is core republican theory of value. Would you believe that it was written by a a rich guy?

In this sense, we have no idea how much we value preventing climate catastrophe, regardless of how much money it would save. We have no idea how much we value nobody going hungry or being homeless. And, in this case, we're pretty certain corporate lobbying in government is a good thing. We're also pretty sure that the banana wars were the most just and worthwhile wars in American history.

The laborer then becomes the most wretched of commodities and so on.