Perry E. Metzger (@perrymetzger) “In the ancient world, the way many people gained great wealth was by forming gan” — TopicDigg

In the ancient world, the way many people gained great wealth was by forming gangs of strong men, beating up their neighbors, and taking their stuff. People still speak with admiration of men like Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, but they were little better than gangsters who enriched themselves through armed robbery. This was a negative sum game, and assured that people remained poor and unhappy for thousands of years. Eventually, however, we figured out that respecting each other’s rights, building things, and trading meant that we could play positive sum games instead. We could increase the amount of wealth, and all would benefit. As a result, we moved from living in unheated shacks to living in what our ancestors would’ve thought of as paradise in only a few hundred years. However, there are still people out there who think that beating someone up and taking their stuff is a really great idea. It is the great task of our civilization to shun such people, as they are not fit to be part of society.