Writing on John Locke, Bertrand Russell describes some of the implications that derive from the nature of the perishability of a product. This perishability, says Locke, begets behavior toward collecting precious metals, which are directly tied to wealth, while also creating an opposing behavior for items that may spoil. The morality tied to wastage leads one not to collect, for example, farm produce, but to instead collect that which it may become through sale, namely, money.
"He [Locke] makes a great deal of the imperishable character of the precious metals, which, he says, are the source of money and inequality of fortune. He seems, in an abstract and academic way, to regret economic inequality, but he certainly does not think that it would be wise to take such measures as might prevent it. No doubt he was impressed, as all the men of his time were, by the gains to civilization that were due to rich men, chiefly as patrons of arts and letters. The same attitude exists in modern America, where science and art are largely dependent upon the benefactions of the very rich. To some extent, civilization is furthered by social injustice. This fact is the basis of what is most respectable in conservatism." (p. 637)
From Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy"
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