I agree, before I read this article, I too thought capitalism was a group of people using plunder to their advantage to get as rich as possible, as quick as possible. It was very eye-opening when I figured out that the origin of capitalism was based off of giving and receiving. As you mentioned that at the beginning, capitalism was the process of giving and receiving gifts which ultimately benefits both parties. Which is ironic because in modern times, capitalism seems like a very on-sided process in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Throughout this process, the thing that bewilders me is that
However, people do not know what they want before they are offered it, that is why innovation plays a major tool in advancing the markets to meet people's needs.
This illustrates that capitalism is based off of risk. Both parties neither know what they are receiving, but have hopes that the other party is giving a gift that is grand enough the benefit from it. This shows that from the start of human time, the market, economy, or whatever you want to call it is uncertain. Just like in modern time, no one knows what the market will do next. Yes, capitalism is based off of giving and receiving which seems like a morally correct exchange, but in reality the motive behind is still greed. For example, a society gives only in hopes of receiving something they that has more value. A society would not follow through the transaction if they believed the opposing party had nothing of value. Specializing in a profession is a key ingredient to help your society grow through gift. For instance, if you specialize in making clothes, you will have an abundance of clothes making it easier to trade more for something another society specializes in, maybe wheels, or certain food. I would have to agree with Adam Smith ideology with the motive behind capitalism. As I stated above, if there was nothing to gain from the gift giving, it simply would not have taken place. I am not saying it is wrong because it makes sense to not trade if there was not benefiting from it. Which is how we got the capitalism today. Due to greed, if people do not benefit, the see it as a waste of time. I lived your article and help expand my perspective when it comes to capitalism!