I think mostly the commodifying comes after I've done something that has some other value to me.

Patriotism is the belief that not all human lives are worth the same.

It seems like most people will agree that they would like if they were treated by other people based on what they have concretely done in their life, not what other people have done, with their lives.

On average, since the urge to kill myself isn't so strong that I actually kill myself, the world is worth living in.

Though if love was an animal, Garret knew, it would probably be the Loch Ness Monster. If it didn’t exist, that didn’t matter. People made models of it, put it in the water, and took photos. The hoax of it was good enough. The idea of it. Though some people feared it, wished it would just go away, had their lives insured against being eaten alive by it.

The correct arrangement of words will make these bad feelings go away tonight.

I think Bret Easton Ellis has said that he doesn't completely identify with his characters. And I think he has referred to them as immoral before.