The Forge, CHAPTER TEN.
Raj had thought that the only ways to get rich were to inherit or to steal. Next, we learn that he had seen mercantilism only as detrimental:
"To yeoman and squire alike, it was a reversal of the natural order of things for mercantile skills to work for their benefit." (p. 143)
An entrepreneur has just advised them on how much profit they can make from a captured town.
In medieval Europe, the lending of money at interest was officially regarded as sinful, presumably because it challenged the economic might of feudal landholders who included bishops? Money is a more dynamic means of exchange but our next advance has to be to the technological production of abundant wealth, making money redundant. In the intermediate period, between land-based wealth and abundant wealth, we are able to enjoy the antics and adventures of master merchants like Nicholas van Rijn.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Your comments about Drake/Stirling's THE GENERAL books (along with Stirling's own remarks) are making me think I should reread them. I will definitely be looking up Chapter 10 of THE FORGE.
Alas, there are so many books I should read or reread, and it's so impossible to read them all! I recently finished Frank J. Tipler's THE PHYSICS OF CHRISTIANITY, and it frankly left me a bit stunned. It was THAT mind expanding (or blowing!) and thought provoking. And I have recently started Robert Zubrin's THE CASE FOR SPACE, which may well do the same again for me, albeit from a different perspective.
Sean
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