Auri sacra fames! Cursed
gold! ludicrously shouts some communist. As well say cursed
wheat, cursed vines, cursed sheep; for, like gold and silver,
every commercial value must reach an exact and accurate
determination. The work was begun long since; today it is making
visible progress.
Let us pass to other considerations.
It is an axiom generally admitted by the economists that ALL
LABOR SHOULD LEAVE AN EXCESS.
I regard this proposition as universally and absolutely true; it
is a corollary of the law of proportionality, which may be
regarded as an epitome of the whole science of economy. But--I
beg pardon of the economists--the principle that ALL LABOR
SHOULD LEAVE AN EXCESS has no meaning in their theory, and is not
susceptible of demonstration. If supply and demand alone
determine value, how can we tell what is an excess and what is a
SUFFICIENCY? If neither cost, nor market price, nor wages can
be mathematically determined, how is it possible to conceive of a
surplus, a profit? Commercial routine has given us the idea of
profit as well as the word; and, since we are equal politically,
we infer that every citizen has an equal right to realize profits
in his personal industry.
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