“Another Slight Confusion” [“Reflections On Adam Smith's Book An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations Indianapolis : Liberty Classics, 1981 (Vol.I and II) Book 1, pp.37 - Chapter 4B”]
Right at the first a slip I made –
Forgetting Smith with system played,
Back long before our present ways
Became established in our day.He speaks at time when industry
Still had not swept the land – we see
An innocence – he would not say
The things he did, if here today.Describing trading “At the first”
As much the same (though now much worse)
As in his later day, he missed
What we see clearer – trade in bits –Of “pin-part” one had made all day,
For bits of thread stitched up some way
To make one pocket of a dress –
Where’s “Cow” for “Salt” played out in this?For rise of industry changed things –
Just after Smith said trading brings
A need for money – sure it does –
But “Fix” is needed too, because –First system only holds in form
And label now – today he’d warn
Us of such splits twixt labels, and
Reality for which they stand.I know this won’t show in the text
’Till down the road, but, like the rest,
If I don’t flag it, I’ll forget
This subtle shift, which I’ll regret.Thanks Lord for this.
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