Final answer:
People who were bought and sold as commodities were slaves, reflecting a time when individuals were dehumanized and treated as property within various societies. Modern commodities include legally bought and sold items like real estate and collectibles, while commodity money refers to items used as money that have intrinsic value, unlike fiat money.
Step-by-step explanation:
The people who are bought and sold as commodities, sometimes multiple times, were slaves. Slavery has been a practice in various cultures and time periods around the world. Slaves were considered property and were bought and sold in markets, often multiple times throughout their lives. This tragic aspect of human history reflects the inhumane treatment of individuals who were seen as commodities rather than human beings with rights and freedoms.
In a broader context, in modern times, the term commodity can refer to physical items that a person purchases and may sell at a later time, such as a house, land, art, rare coins, or stamps. However, these physical items are legally bought and sold as opposed to the immoral and illegal practice of buying and selling human beings in slavery. In addition, the concepts of commodity money and fiat money deal with money that has inherent value or is used based on government regulation, respectively, and do not directly refer to the historical practice of slavery.