The Real Wealth of Nations Or a New Civilization And Its Economic Foundations

sume, the situation remains in statu quo. Nature may be generous and produce more than the people require, in which case the surplus is wasted, but if, on the other hand, the district became overcrowded there would be a shortage of necessaries. What happens ? The people fight for food. No one has any exclusive right to it, and the strongest prevail, but herein there is no progress and no civilization, although natural wealth exists so long as there is a surplus of necessaries. By this is meant a quantity in hand beyond that needed until the next supply becomes available. Thus, Nature having ordained seasons and harvests, a man who has a supply just sufficient to last him until the next crop is garnered has no real surplus, and this is also obviously true if we ignore the seasons, and imagine a man consuming every day the necessaries provided by Nature on the previous one. It is evidently essential, as already mentioned, to distinguish between wealth due to Nature, and that due to man's efforts combined with the assistance of Nature, although the actual form of the two may be identical, because, whereas a man may claim the latter as his own, no one has a right to a monopoly of that which Nature provides. A vital moral result follows, also, from this distinction, formen who live solely on the gifts of Nature and do no work never develop. They remain savages, whence we see again that to the useful work of the superior men is due the growth of civilization. ... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.