Chapter 3 Chapter 2 The Origin of the Division of Labor

Although the division of labor has so many benefits, these benefits do not originate from human wisdom, but are the result of the gradual development of a tendency to communicate with each other and exchange things.Although man with wisdom foresees that the division of labor will produce general prosperity, and wants to achieve general prosperity through the division of labor, his original goal is not this general utility. We do not now take into account whether this tendency is a natural property which cannot be further analysed, or rather is a necessary consequence of reason and the faculties of speech.This tendency, however, is common and peculiar to man, and the rest of the animals do not seem to know this tendency, or any other kind of agreement.

Occasionally two hounds would pursue a rabbit together, one of the hounds chasing the rabbit towards the other, or stopping the other hound when it was chasing it to its side.This move seems to be a kind of coordinated action, but this kind of synergy is just an accidental coincidence when their desire objects are the same. It only occurs at a specific moment and is not the result of a contract.We have never seen two dogs exchange bones fairly and carefully.We have never seen any other animal other than human beings gesture or natural voice to other animals and say "this is mine, that is yours, and I will exchange mine for you". Pass.

The only means of persuasion for an animal to take something from a man or another animal is to win the favor of the giver.For example, a puppy who wants to get food flatters the mother dog in every possible way, and a domestic dog who wants to arouse the attention of the owner to feed it makes various coquettish gestures, etc.This method is sometimes used by us humans to treat fellow humans.A man who wants his fellowman to satisfy his will, when he has no other proper means, resorts to all sorts of vile flattery to win his favor.However, this method is limited by time and can only be done occasionally, and it is impossible to use it every time.In a civilized society, it is not easy for a person to win the favor of others. Even if he tries his best all his life, he will have little effect, but he may encounter the situation of receiving assistance from the majority at any time.Except for humans, almost all other animals are able to be independent in nature as soon as they reach maturity, without the assistance of other animals.

And human beings need the assistance of their compatriots almost anytime and anywhere, and it is impossible to rely solely on the favor of others.If a person voluntarily does things for himself for his own benefit and can stimulate the self-interest of others, he can achieve his goal relatively easily.Anyone who wants to do business with others can first propose this: Please give me what I want, so that you can get what you want from me.This is the general meaning of transaction.In this way we can get most of the help we need.The butcher, the brewer, or the baker supplies us with our daily food and drink, not out of favor, but because of their self-interest.Instead of speaking words that evoke altruism in others, we speak words that evoke self-interest in others.Even if we have our own needs, we must say that it is in their interest to do so.

In this society, no one is willing to live a life like a beggar completely relying on others' charity.Even a beggar cannot blindly rely on the favor of others.It is true that the means of subsistence of beggars all come from benevolent people with compassion in the final analysis.However, this kind of charity is only out of morality, and it is not and cannot be provided to beggars anytime and anywhere.Most of the occasional wants of beggars are also obtained by contract, exchange, and buying and selling, just like other people.He buys food with money given to him by others; he exchanges old clothes given to him for better-fitting old clothes, food, or lodging, or converts old clothes into money to buy the clothes and food he needs or residence.These are not the result of favors from others.

It is because contract, exchange, and buying and selling accomplish most of the assistance we need that the tendency to division of labor arose in the first place.For example, among hunting and nomadic peoples, there is a person who is good at making bows and arrows. He once exchanged the bows and arrows he made for other people's livestock or animal meat, but found that the exchange with the hunters was more than what he could get from hunting in the wild. .For his own benefit, he made bows and arrows his main business, and thus became a weapon maker.Another, skilled in building frames and roofs for huts or mobile homes, was often called upon to build houses, and was paid in livestock and meat.Later, he finally found that it was beneficial for him to devote himself to this work, and he became a house builder.In the same way, the third man became a blacksmith or coppersmith, and the fourth man a tanner or tanner—leather was the main material of human clothing in primitive times.In this way, people take out the surplus labor products that they produce but cannot consume in exchange for the surplus of other people's labor products that they need.Men are encouraged by this phenomenon to take up a particular kind of business, and because of this, they are honed in their own business and thus able to develop their natural aptitudes or abilities.

In fact, the differences in human talent are not as great as we think.The very different talents which grown men display in the different positions they occupy are not so much the cause of the division of labour, as its effect.This statement applies in most cases.For example, a philosopher and a porter have very obvious differences in personality. It should be said that habit, custom and education, rather than nature, cause this obvious difference.Before they were seven or eight years old, their natures were so alike that their parents and friends would not have been able to discern any marked difference between them.From about seven or eight years of age or a little older, they set out in very different occupations, and gradually the difference in their talents began to be seen and increased, until at last the philosopher, driven by vanity, was almost Refusing to admit any resemblance between himself and the porter.However, if there is no such exchange and barter tendency, then everyone must produce all the necessities and conveniences in life by himself. Any difference, of course, it is impossible to have huge talent differences due to job differences.

The emergence of the tendency to exchange has produced extremely marked differences in talents among people engaged in various occupations, and this difference is a useful difference.The differences in the natural aptitudes of man before education and custom are much greater than the differences in the nature of many animals of the same species but different genera.The difference between a mastiff and a hound, between a hound and a spaniel, between a spaniel and a herding dog, is much greater in endowments than between a philosopher and a porter.However, these animals of different genera of the same species cannot use each other.To the mighty bulldog, the nimble and quick hound, the clever spaniel, and the gentle herding dog cannot give him assistance.The reason why these different aptitudes and talents cannot be combined into a common resource is because animals have always been independent and defensive, and have no ability or inclination to trade the talents naturally endowed to them, and thus cannot improve the ability of the same species. between happiness and convenience.But for humans, the situation is completely different.Between people, even talents that are quite different can be used interchangeably.The general tendency towards exchanging what is needed and bartering leads men to gather into a common resource the different products produced by their various talents.Anyone can exchange their own resources from this common resource for items produced by others according to their needs.