“One Hundred Years Of So” (Amos 8:6; James 2:6; Luke 16:14; Matt.25:31-46) [“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, Chapter 1-A”]

Hundred years or so it was around
(That’s labor, divvied up), so Adam found
A ready term to use which people got,
For it was how stores got what people bought.

So Adam Smith just wrote up what he’d seen
Around him in a world which now had been
Advanced beyond the steadiness before –
How suddenly their nation garnered more.

Already lowly workers had a life
Which rose above “The savages” despite
Existing on the crumbs like Ollie Twist;
Labor’s division was the cause of this.

Well, half of it, he notes – there’s “Management”
“Applying” smarts, directing where “It” went –
That’s “Labor” – now divide it up for use
And wrung out to make cash (the rules were loose).

The colonies there’d been two centuries;
The pirates raided, sailed the seven seas;
The golden influx bloated Spanish wealth,
Which flooded Europe (hard on “Savage” health).

The Scottish “Lairds” seized common lands as theirs,
Evicting crofters, showing little care,
To raise the wool, to cash in on the boom –
“Big fish eat little fish – be gone by noon”.

He cites a boy’s invention – piece of cord
To hold an open valve – without a word
The kid ran off to play, “Ooo-eee! I’m free!”
But who got money saved? The owner – see?

Most tools are made by folks who think that way;
Efficiencies come easy such folk say;
So Adam Smith says, “That’s example too –
Create a job for folks who make the tools”.

But wealth that’s built up is not fairly shared
By all involved – read Dickens, how folks fared
As “Unseen hand” of selfish greed progressed
Which “… Did those feet on England’s soil…” addressed.

Lord, this reminds me of small-business lore –
“Don’t think you understand – there’s always more
Than meets the eye (how he successful got –
Rich uncle, not the hokum kids get taught)”

Sure, it’s all true, but it’s just part, I’d say;
Philosophy of greed persists today;
Oppressor’s ships and guns; evicting folks;
The “Cause of wealth”? It’s time we all awoke.

Thanks Lord for this.

navigation