Richard Cantillon (1680-1734)
This is a wonderful quote. It answers many questions.
Sometimes called the "Father of Economics," though that might be disputed by followers of other such "fathers," this is a most useful and applicable quote.
What questions does it answer? Many!
It answers the question of "what might I do with my future?" How?
Because it answers the question of, when one's traits and interests and skills are discovered, how one might consider what they do with their life. How?
Because it answers the question of what one might do with one's education! How?
The goal of education is to learn to think for oneself. In school we are taught different subjects; have to read things in those different subjects we might not otherwise read; have to do problem solving in different subjects that we may not enjoy or understand; find via this diverse experience what we would enjoy studying more about. The purpose of all that is to encourage us to think in different ways, and use our brains in different ways. And think for ourselves.
Hopefully, through the experience of early education, we become a MORE WELL-ROUNDED INDIVIDUAL.
And, hopefully, as we study a subject, whatever the subject, we learn to think as an expert in that subject might think! When an astronomer sees something through the Hubble telescope that no one has seen before, he/she can't run to a former teacher to ask what it is. That teacher wouldn't know! So, what to do? That astronomer must think like an astronomer would think! The astronomer must apply learning in astronomy to the problem/interest at hand, create analyses in experimental ways, and develop hypotheses or theories as regards that new thing. And, AND, any conclusions reached might change next year anyway with a new discovery! Which requires more "Ingenuity and Industry" by those in the field to further more learning and provide more understanding. And the beat goes on!
From that early education, if we follow the Cantillon quote, one might seek further education to acquire more "time in training or most Ingenuity and Industry" as regards what one likes to study the most. We go to college, select a major, hopefully study and learn diligently so we can apply understanding to principles, and become one that thinks like an expert in that field, maybe even seeking further and further education. To quote a phrase, piling it higher and deeper later on. We might not even go to college, choosing instead to develop the skill or service we want to provide.
However, in the end, we would be gainfully employed, or employ ourselves, in our chosen field of endeavor, or service offered to others.
How well are we paid? We are paid based upon how hard it is to replace us! We might find a niche that no one has found before. We might develop a good or service that no one has developed before. We might become better at our craft than anyone has become before. And as such we become more and more indispensable.
AND WE GARNER A BETTER INCOME.
Where does it begin? In early education. With stimulus and curiosity. With support from parents and teachers and friends. With personal leadership and self awareness that what we are trying to do is important to ourselves and society.
And we are expected to do this when we are children!
And we are expected to do this when we are children!
Eventually we begin our individual quest. Eventually we become a part of the mix. Eventually we become players. Or not. We might choose not to do any of that and be dependent on others.
Free Enterprise Requires That Everyone Plays
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