I. The Basics ↑
12. We make things of value for one another.
We humans have always made things for ourselves and for one another.
As our technologies and specialized roles have become more complex and more diverse, the things we make and the ways in which we make them have also become more sophisticated.
Of course some people provide services rather than products, but it is all part of the process of value creation.
We live in complex societies with long value chains but, ultimately, all of us are still making things for one another.
And part of the magic of making things for one another is that, when our economic system is working well, we all end up better off than we would have been had we tried making everything we wanted and needed for ourselves.
In other words, we each make a profit from our labors, ending up with more than we started with.
Words from Others on this Topic
Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies.
Albert Camus, 1968, from the book Lyrical and Critical Essays
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
Abraham Lincoln, 03 Dec 1861, from the speech “Speech to Congress”
If you want to be successful in business (in life, actually), you have to create more than you consume. Your goal should be to create value for everyone you interact with. Any business that doesn’t create value for those it touches, even if it appears successful on the surface, isn’t long for this world. It’s on the way out.
Jeff Bezos, 15 Apr 2021, from the letter “2020 Letter to Amazon Shareholders”
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
Barack Obama, 2009, from the speech “Obama's 2009 Inaugral Address”
The experience of the past leaves little doubt that every economic system must sooner or later rely upon some form of the profit motive to stir individuals and groups to productivity. Substitutes like slavery, police supervision, or ideological enthusiasm prove too unproductive, too expensive, or too transient. Normally and generally men are judged by their ability to produce — except in war, when they are ranked according to their ability to destroy.
Will Durant, 1968, from the book The Lessons of History
We have had to learn the bitter lesson that in all the world there are only two sources of real wealth: the fruit of the earth and the labor of men; and to estimate work not by the money it brings to the producer, but by the worth of the thing that is made.
Dorothy L. Sayers, 1942, from the essay “Why Work?”
Relevant Reference Models
- An element of The Tribal Instincts
Next: 13. We require periods of leisure