Беседы с дочерью об экономике

If the various Marias who own businesses are all confident that market conditions will be good and that there will continue to be enough customers with money to spend, then each of them will hire the various Wasilys, who in turn will see their income grow, allowing them to buy refrigerators, bicycles, or whatever it may be. In this manner the various Marias’ optimistic expectations will be fulfilled. Equally, if the various Marias are glum and expect poor sales, they will refrain from hiring the various Wasilys, incomes will continue to stagnate, the market for fridges will remain stuck in the doldrums, and, guess what, Maria and her fellow entrepreneurs will find their pessimism vindicated by reality.

How do you think the landowners managed to get rid of the serfs so efficiently? The answer is: with the help of the state. The king and his government lent the landowners a hand, sending their soldiers in to put down any rebellion by the peasants. And how do you think the new order, underpinning market society, was maintained? How were the majority living under conditions of abject dehumanization in the slums of Manchester, Birmingham, and London kept under control when a few streets away the minority lived in the lap of luxury? To put it simply, private wealth was built and then maintained on the back of state-sponsored violence.