
Pete Boettke has written extensively about how The Wealth of Nations is about social order among strangers. The market is a social order much larger than our span of moral sympathy.
In civilized society [man] stands at all times in need of the co-operation and assistance of great multitudes, while his whole life is scarce sufficient to gain the friendship of a few persons. In almost every other race of animals each individual, when it is grown up to maturity, is entirely independent, and in its natural state has occasion for the assistance of no other living creature.
But man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them.
Whoever offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me that which I want, and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every such offer; and it is in this manner that we obtain from one another the far greater part of those good offices which we stand in need of.
To realize this social cooperation, Boettke argues that social institutions must be in place such as private property, keeping promises through contract, and the acceptance of the legitimacy of the transfer of property by consent. The division of labour is the key to the ability of the market system to produce social cooperation among distant and different anonymous actors.
The civilising influence of commerce is well-known as is it as the key to peace. We fear neither Russia nor China because of extensive economic interdependencies makes war pointless for all. The common market ended war in Western Europe.
The co-operation and peace is a spontaneous product of Hayek’s concept of catallaxy which is
the order brought about by the mutual adjustment of many individual economies in a market
The youtube clip is Milton Friedman’s discussion of the famous essay I, Pencil and how strangers cooperated in peace and harmony in the market even though they might hate each other if they ever met. I, Pencil details the complexity of its own creation and the numerous people involved is the absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless actions. Instead, we find the invisible hand at work.
Capitalism is a system which enables cooperation between millions of strangers so that they may jointly pursue their diverse goals.
Recent Comments