If, in the poem of Chamisso, the highwayman with pistol drawn compels the victim to sell his watch and ring for three coppers, the fact is that under the circumstances, since the victim could not otherwise save his life, the thing obtained in exchange is actually worth the price. No one would work for starvation wages if, in the situation in which he actually found himself, he did not prefer this wage to not working.

XREF: Echoes coercion and free-market logic debates; connects to questions of whether constrained choices are truly voluntary, as in labor bargaining power discussions.

Georg Simmel, on individuality and social…, loc. 255