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I don't know why people value cigarettes, but I don't, which means it must be subjective.
Alright. I happen to also recall clients telling me they use rolls of toilet paper as money.
I do understand why people value toilet paper, but there are people who don't use it by choice, which means it's only subjectively valuable.
What about blood cells? And if we exclude people with suicidal tendencies?
You mean the things people regularly give away for free at blood drives.
Josh tries to get at the "intrinsic value" concept by talking about ends and means.
There are some things people pretty much only want as a means of getting something else.
Usually, people say money fits in this category. Here's an article where Rothbard says it several different ways.
Then there are things that people actually want, like cigarettes. Cigarettes can be used as a means (prison currency), but they were created as an end in and of themselves. I think Josh's take is that money can't be used as an end, and so it needs to be tied to some "real" end.
That's where I think he's wrong. People can want anything as an end.
What about cigarettes in prison?