Monday morning information provided by Stephen L. Hall.
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Some time ago, I had occasion to indulge in a bit of frivolous spending on ebay. I decided to purchase a set of four silver wine goblets, of course they were silver plate, not pure silver:
The set came to a total of $7.49, but the shipping was about $12.50. I further purchased a container of silver polish at a cost of about $5.00. Taking a little bit of time and elbow grease, as it were, there was a noticeable improvement in the aesthetic appearance of the chalices.
As you can note, the goblets turned out reasonably nice, no chips or mars upon their surfaces. A little internet research upon the symbols stamped on the bottom, as is the custom with silver and silver plate revealed a little bit further information.
These particular goblets were made by the company of Reed & Barton, manufactured in the year 1929, and stamped with the letters S.N.E.P. which stand for Silver-Nickel Electo-Plated. In total, aside from a little work, my total investment is a meager $25. I have thought of reselling them on ebay for perhaps $100 and earning a modest wage for my time, but I am currently enjoying the use of these chalices.
One of these days I may break down and forego the money to purchase some pure silver goblets if I can find a suitable style and deal. No, that does not make me a stone-hearted skinflint, contrary to popular opinion upon the matter.
I broach this topic because it recalls my favorite article I read in Forbes magazine, essentially a filler piece taking up a mere half-page, concerning the writer’s personal approach to gardening. He explained that when he gardened he sought to maximize his profit in the endeavor.
He described that he would plant those vegetables which tended to be the most costly in the supermarket; no point in planting things which were cheaper to buy at the store. His favorite, as I recall was the artichokes, which he described as not only giving him a profit in mature plant, but four little dividends in shoots to plant later. Most people who garden tend to plant tomatoes, which are relatively cheap. Why plant the cheap, when there is little profit or reward for your hard work?
As some readers know, I produce my own mead, beer and wine. A homemade bottle of wine will cost about $2 or $3, if you purchase the wine juice from a grower or even a store. Compare that to $10 to $15 for a bottle of wine in the store. Home brewing is a popular hobby because the return on the investment is about 5 to 1. In a couple of batches of beer or wine you have already recouped the cost of your equipment.
I am currently contemplating taking up the making of cheese. A wedge of cheese in the store runs about $7 for a six to eight ounce wedge; but for $7 I could produce about a two pound block of cheese, again about a four to one return on the investment of my hobby time.
When I was in university, my girlfriend loved to shop at antique stores. She, being a poor college student, and an art major, for our Christmas together, and knowing how much I liked books and that I was getting a second major in Economics, she bought for me three fairly old books: a book on “Business Law”, “A Guide for the Greedy” (Not what you think, it was actually a book on food, and how to properly enjoy them.), and “Money Making Hobbies”. She inscribed each with a personal note.
These things are not unconnected. We often in this modern world get immersed in a culture of things, expensive baubles, entertainments, and activities. However, to the observant it occurs that the goal is not to have money but to have those things which you want the money to purchase.
Even a poor capitalist can live quite well without a high income because he looks after what Adam Smith referred to as his personal economy. All that is required for him to live a pleasant life is for his fellow man to refrain from taking his property, to take the fruits of his labor whether to give it to someone else or fund their own aims.
The very nature of the philosophy of capitalism is to improve your own life by investing in your own property, to improve, to maintain, to save, and to acquire. The goal of the capitalist is to pursue improvement, not to hoard wealth or be meddlesome busybody in his neighbor’s affairs.
This philosophy is foreign to most people who are typically either socialist or mercantilist, though there are a few who proclaim to be anarchist but do not really understand the philosophy they claim. Socialists pretend to want everything to be equal for everyone, but there are mercantilists pretending to be socialists just as there are mercantilists who pretend to be capitalists. Mercantilists want to have more than everyone else.
I once had occasion to define capitalism to a friend of mine as I was teaching her the philosophical concepts. Capitalism is defined simply as a continuing state of improvement. The capitalist seeks to be better off tomorrow than he is today, better off today than he was yesterday. It is not about money, it is about prosperity, and prosperity means improvement.
It is a simple observance: If a socialist had a million dollars, he would not be happy because everyone did not have a million dollars. If a mercantilist had a million dollars, he would not be happy because there exist people with more than a million dollars. If an anarchist had a million dollars, he would not be happy because he would always worry that someone was going to take it from him. If a capitalist had a thousand dollars, he would be happy at having such opportunity to improve his life.
The capitalist is happy simply left to his own devices without interference.
