NW – do you have any examples of a free market anywhere ? It would be interesting to see a country that works under such a system and what type of government supports it.

Where I live is a million miles away from a free market economy as are its leaders. The latest one is all for plenty of intervention and meddling.

Division of labour would get my vote-having some people farm and others fight and others build stuff is why the we are now sat around getting fat rather than picking berries and hoping to catch a rabbit.

But I think you need money for this to work?

molgrips – Member

But I think you need money for this to work?

Nope, insects do division of labour- you can do it cooperatively, by barter or exchange of service, it’s almost certain that humans did it before any form of monetary exchange. But if you want to exploit it, you need money.

Nope, insects do division of labour- you can do it cooperatively, by barter or exchange of service

This only works ona small scale though. Of course you can trade your cabbages for your neighbour’s carrots in a small village. But most villagers would not be prepared to pay Plato to teach Philosophy in food. Money enables effective taxation. It also doesn’t perish and is easily transportable. This means you can have banks and savings and investment and things.

Thinking about it, this is a trick question: there is no such thing as free trade.

I think THM may already have said this, likely several times. But take for example the fiasco with Bombardier and Boeing. There are government subsidies flying around, politicians exerting influence to get jobs in their corner of the world, whatever tariffs we have on aircraft, and who knows what.

So when TM says that Free Trade is “the greatest agent of blah blah blah” she’s spouting sanctimonious nonsense.

There is no free trade, there never has been and never will be.

So that means that back to the original question, the answer likely is actually the bicycle. Unless insects have bicycles of course. Or perhaps fire. Or something.

Did any pone say ‘art’

Making marks records more than just language. From early petroglyphs and hieroglyphs to modern masterpieces. From illustrations in medical manuals to iconography. Art in all forms is, I argue, the medium where we find all of our humanity spoken more profoundly and completely than any other way. More than words can say.

But this is silly, there is no one ‘agent’ to rule the roost. There are many.