
Into the corners of a life with full-time work, two toddlers and a halfway-accomplished pregnancy, I’ve been tucking some
Cato University podcasts on the Western tradition of free minds and men. I recommend the series.
First, it’s free, but second, it’s high-quality free. The selections of readings and the actors used to illustrate them are top-notch. Rather than forcing myself to listen because it’s mental medicine, I enjoy each bit of time I can spend listening while making dinner or doing laundry.
I’m almost finished with their selection on Adam Smith, and I wanted to ask you a question he’s inspired: How many servants do you have? You may think you have none, but as Smith points out, we all have thousands.
Let me put it this way. For about $500, you can—as I am now—hurdle through the air at 300 miles per hour in a machine created by an industry that employs thousands all over the world just to make your air-hurdling possible, in myriad combinations of flights to suit your needs and fancy. For $75, you can have hundreds, if not thousands, of petroleum industry workers bring gas for your car from deep caverns of the earth up to a few blocks from your home. And for $2—just a few minutes of work—you can have two or three employees at Starbucks make you hot coffee.
In “
The Wealth of Nations,” Smith points out that the number of people under your command is a measure of power and wealth. Nowadays, the number of people you and I can “command” for $500 or $75 surpasses the number many—probably most—ancient kings commanded into war and peace. In other terms, it takes me from two hours to half a week of work to have the power of ancient kings. Even for a person earning minimum wage, it takes one workday or one and a half work weeks to have the power of ancient kings. Smith’s point is that even the lowliest workers in a free market are given power far beyond those at the top in a restricted market.
The comparison is not perfect, but like many insights of major thinkers, it’s a wild change of perspective. Do you think it’s a fair one?
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