Traders and money changers, with an eye for business in a
growing marketplace made a more ample living. At the same time the more
successful among them accumulated capital which they loaned or invested
in stocks of goods, shops, warehouses, caravans, ships. By hiring
labor-power they multiplied their own limited physical capacities. By
investing in varied enterprises they assured themselves against possible
loss in any one of them. They also multiplied the possibilities of
profit.
Trade, finance and commerce, by producing a regular flow of abundant
income, brought into existence a new field of occupations and a new
class--business and the businessmen. Herdsmen and farmers depended for
their livelihood on nature, her niggardliness or generosity. The
businessmen required only the presence of a group large enough to
purchase goods and services, pay rent and interest, work for wages and
leave the profits to the enterpriser. Each profit beyond the subsistence
level enabled the businessmen to expand, buying more goods, hiring more
labor, making still greater profits.
Communities of businessmen pooled their profits, extended their markets,
built fleets, enlarged cities. Through joint action they engaged in
plundering expeditions and collected tribute from their victims.
Organized fabrication turned out the goods and services which were
marketed for profits. The resulting wealth enabled the successful
businessmen to build houses, stock them with consumer goods and art
treasures, hire servants, live sumptuously.
Pages:
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134