Abstract

Suppose you stroll to the corner restaurant for breakfast: eggs, bacon, and a glass of orange juice. A simple activity? No. Mind-numbing complexity is more like it. A farmer in Virginia produced your egg, another in Florida your orange juice, and yet another in the Midwest your bacon. Different truckers brought each of these to a supermarket. The restaurateur then bought them there and had them prepared for you. Seven people are involved in your ‘simple’ activity? Well, no. This is a caricature. Just for starters, the egg farmer/capitalist hires several workers to operate considerable equipment, all of which was purchased from other companies, made up of capitalists and workers, which in turn bought their parts from yet other companies, which …(the mind reels). Your day has barely begun, and a few dollars worth of breakfast has already brought an army of considerable size to your service.