Liberty and Property.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

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Liberty and Property 15IIThe pre-capitalistic systemof product was restrictive. Its historicalbasis was military conquest. Thevictorious kings had given the land to theirpaladins. These aristocrats were lords inthe literal meaning of the word, as they didnot depend on the patronage of consumersbuying or abstaining from buying on amarket. On the other hand, they themselveswere the main customers of the processingindustries which, under the guild system,were organized on a corporative scheme.This scheme was opposed to innovation. Itforbade deviation from the traditional methodsof production. The number of peoplefor whom there were jobs even in agricultureor in the arts and crafts was limited.Under these conditions, many a man, to use15
16Liberty and Propertythe words of Malthus, had to discover that“at nature’s mighty feast there is no vacantcover for him” and that “she tells him to begone.” But some of these outcasts neverthelessmanaged to survive, begot children, andmade the number of destitute grow hopelesslymore and more.But then came capitalism. It is customaryto see the radical innovations that capitalismbrought about in the substitution ofthe mechanical factory for the more primitiveand less efficient methods of the artisans’shops. This is a rather superficial view. Thecharacteristic feature of capitalism that distinguishesit from pre-capitalist methods ofproduction was its new principle of marketing.Capitalism is not simply mass production,but mass production to satisfy theneeds of the masses. The arts and crafts ofthe good old days had catered almost exclusivelyto the wants of the well-to-do. ButThomas R. Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population,2nd ed. (London, 1803), p. 531.
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