" Among men, on the contrary, the most dissimilar geniuses are of use to one another; the different produces of their respective talents, by the general disposition to truck, barter, and exchange, being brought, as it were, into a common stock, where every man may purchase whatever part of the produce of other men's talents he has occasion for."
This includes both the street porter and the philosopher. Thus, we need pamphlets like "You Can Get Rich With PLS!" to convince ourselves or our parents that it's "worthwhile," since profitability is the measure of use to society.
Perhaps we can pause and consider: society, in one way or another, affords us liberal education, a chance to not contribute to the general public but to only receive the labor of professors and janitors, and the vitals and "fewel" to keep us alive. Is it mere cultural conflict to accept this, when the low-wage laborers who form the foundation of our consumer economy would not necessarily voluntarily give it to us, believing in its common betterment? If they don't afford it to us voluntarily, are we taking it from them? Where is the surplus coming from by which we can "mess around" for four years? What are we going to give back?
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