Wealth is not work, Marx thought that and he was wrong. For example, gold does have any 'work in it', and while breaking rocks takes a lot of work hardly anyone will pay you much for it. Wealth is not absolute or fixed either, it is simply what you and other humans happen to think (value) at the moment about an object or service. Money as a measure of wealth proves this, watch how perceived value of corn changes constantly in the futures market. Money as a legal agreement on a piece of paper is only as good as a promise. Governments play with this all the time.
wealth is created thru the ownership of slaves via debt. they will pay you, produce for you and serve you.
They come from humans. Also only humans perceive wealth and value. It's alot like mass psychology. Gold is logically worthless, yet is is very expensive. That's because people think it worth something. Other people see this and think because these people think its worth something, it must be worth something. Now all humans think its worth something. The masses control the individual.
achilles28 wrote "For instance, imagine a 2 person economy. Both people decide to sleep all day, everyday. Nothing gets produced. No wealth is created. " Obamanomics at it's core!
It is simple, wealth comes from the human perception to solidify the non-existing ego, which is why many richies are miserable and constantly try to justify themselves
Yes, it is. People value the outcome or result. Not the process. And to get that outcome or result, work must be done (speculative, or not). Nobody will pay for a half finished well bore, or a pile of broken rocks. True. But they will pay when the result (oil or gold) is achieved. And work had to be done to realize that deposit. Work is just the application of effort to produce a valued good or service. More speculative types of work - like mining or inventing - require more failure before the outcome is realized. But that failure (work) is a necessary part of the process to make the good.