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69:5 The Beginnings of Capital (view source)
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, 13:47, 21 July 2011Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame 69:5.1 Capital is labor applied as a renunciation of the present in favor of the [[futu...'
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69:5.1 [[Capital]] is [[labor]] applied as a [[renunciation]] of the [[present]] in [[favor]] of the [[future]]. Savings [[represent]] a form of [[maintenance]] and [[survival]] insurance. [[Food]] hoarding [[developed]] [[self]]-[[control]] and created the first problems of capital and labor. The man who had food, provided he could [[protect]] it from robbers, had a distinct advantage over the man who had no food.
69:5.2 The early [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank banker] was the valorous man of the [[tribe]]. He held the [[group]] treasures on deposit, while the entire [[clan]] would defend his hut in event of [[attack]]. Thus the accumulation of [[individual]] capital and [[group]] [[wealth]] immediately led to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military military] [[organization]]. At first such precautions were [[designed]] to defend [[property]] against foreign raiders, but later on it became the [[custom]] to keep the [[military]] [[organization]] in [[practice]] by inaugurating raids on the [[property]] and [[wealth]] of [[neighbor]]ing [[tribes]].
69:5.3 The basic urges which led to the accumulation of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_%28economics%29 capital] were:
*1. 69:5.4 ''[[Hunger]]''—[[associated]] with [[foresight]]. [[Food]] saving and preservation meant [[power]] and comfort for those who [[possessed]] sufficient [[foresight]] thus to provide for [[future]] needs. Food storage was adequate insurance against [[famine]] and disaster. And the entire body of [[primitive]] [[mores]] was really designed to help man subordinate the [[present]] to the [[future]].
*2. 69:5.5 ''[[Love]] of [[family]]'' —[[desire]] to provide for their wants. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_%28economics%29 Capital] [[represents]] the saving of [[property]] in spite of the [[pressure]] of the wants of today in order to insure against the demands of the [[future]]. A part of this future need may have to do with one's [[posterity]].
*3. 69:5.6 ''[[Vanity]]'' —longing to display one's [[property]] accumulations. Extra clothing was one of the first badges of distinction. [[Collection]] [[vanity]] early appealed to the [[pride]] of man.
*4. 69:5.7 ''[[Social Status|Position]]'' —[[eagerness]] to buy [[social]] and [[political]] [[prestige]]. There early sprang up a [[commercial]]ized nobility, admission to which depended on the [[performance]] of some special [[service]] to royalty or was granted frankly for the payment of [[money]].
*5. 69:5.8 ''[[Power]]'' —the craving to be master. [[Money|Treasure]] lending was carried on as a means of [[enslavement]], one hundred per cent a year being the loan rate of these ancient times. The moneylenders made themselves kings by creating a standing army of debtors. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_antiquity Bond servants] were among the earliest form of [[property]] to be accumulated, and in olden days debt [[slavery]] extended even to the [[control]] of the [[body]] after [[death]].
*6. 69:5.9 ''[[Fear]] of the [[ghosts]] of the dead'' —[[priest]] fees for [[protection]]. Men early began to give [[death]] presents to the [[priests]] with a view to having their [[property]] used to [[facilitate]] their [[progress]] through the next life. The priesthoods thus became very rich; they were chief among ancient [[capitalists]].
*7. 69:5.10 ''[[Sex]] urge'' —the [[desire]] to buy one or more [[wives]]. Man's first [[form]] of [[trading]] was [[woman]] exchange; it long preceded [http://www.wikpedia.org/wiki/Horse horse] trading. But never did the [[barter]] in [[sex]] [[slaves]] advance [[society]]; such traffic was and is a racial disgrace, for at one and the same time it hindered the [[development]] of [[family]] life and polluted the [[biologic]] fitness of superior peoples.
*8. 69:5.11 ''Numerous [[forms]] of [[self-gratification]]''. Some sought [[wealth]] because it conferred [[power]]; others toiled for [[property]] because it meant ease. Early man (and some later-day ones) tended to squander his [[resources]] on [[luxury]]. Intoxicants and [[drugs]] [[intrigued]] the [[primitive]] races.
69:5.12 As [[civilization]] [[developed]], men acquired new incentives for saving; new wants were rapidly added to the [[original]] [[food]] [[hunger]]. [[Poverty]] became so abhorred that only the rich were supposed to go direct to [[heaven]] when they died. [[Property]] became so highly [[valued]] that to give a pretentious feast would wipe a dishonor from one's [[name]].
69:5.13 Accumulations of [[wealth]] early became the badge of [[social]] [[Prestige|distinction]]. [[Individuals]] in certain [[tribes]] would accumulate [[property]] for years just to [[create]] an impression by burning it up on some holiday or by [[free]]ly distributing it to fellow [[tribesmen]]. This made them great men. Even modern peoples revel in the lavish [[distribution]] of [[Christmas]] gifts, while rich men [[endow]] great [[institutions]] of [[philanthropy]] and [[learning]]. [[Man]]'s [[technique]] varies, but his disposition remains quite unchanged.
69:5.14 But it is only fair to [[record]] that many an ancient rich man [[distributed]] much of his [[Wealth|fortune]] because of the [[fear]] of being killed by those who coveted his treasures. [[Wealth]]y men commonly [[sacrificed]] scores of [[slaves]] to show disdain for [[wealth]].
69:5.15 Though [[capital]] has tended to [[liberate]] man, it has greatly [[complicated]] his [[social]] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry industrial] [[organization]]. The [[abuse]] of [[capital]] by unfair capitalists does not destroy the [[fact]] that it is the basis of [[modern]] [[industrial]] [[society]]. Through [[capital]] and [[invention]] the present [[generation]] enjoys a higher [[degree]] of [[freedom]] than any that ever preceded it on [[earth]]. This is placed on [[record]] as a [[fact]] and not in justification of the many misuses of capital by thoughtless and selfish custodians.
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_69 Go to Paper 69]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 69 - Primitive Human Institutions]]
69:5.1 [[Capital]] is [[labor]] applied as a [[renunciation]] of the [[present]] in [[favor]] of the [[future]]. Savings [[represent]] a form of [[maintenance]] and [[survival]] insurance. [[Food]] hoarding [[developed]] [[self]]-[[control]] and created the first problems of capital and labor. The man who had food, provided he could [[protect]] it from robbers, had a distinct advantage over the man who had no food.
69:5.2 The early [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank banker] was the valorous man of the [[tribe]]. He held the [[group]] treasures on deposit, while the entire [[clan]] would defend his hut in event of [[attack]]. Thus the accumulation of [[individual]] capital and [[group]] [[wealth]] immediately led to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military military] [[organization]]. At first such precautions were [[designed]] to defend [[property]] against foreign raiders, but later on it became the [[custom]] to keep the [[military]] [[organization]] in [[practice]] by inaugurating raids on the [[property]] and [[wealth]] of [[neighbor]]ing [[tribes]].
69:5.3 The basic urges which led to the accumulation of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_%28economics%29 capital] were:
*1. 69:5.4 ''[[Hunger]]''—[[associated]] with [[foresight]]. [[Food]] saving and preservation meant [[power]] and comfort for those who [[possessed]] sufficient [[foresight]] thus to provide for [[future]] needs. Food storage was adequate insurance against [[famine]] and disaster. And the entire body of [[primitive]] [[mores]] was really designed to help man subordinate the [[present]] to the [[future]].
*2. 69:5.5 ''[[Love]] of [[family]]'' —[[desire]] to provide for their wants. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_%28economics%29 Capital] [[represents]] the saving of [[property]] in spite of the [[pressure]] of the wants of today in order to insure against the demands of the [[future]]. A part of this future need may have to do with one's [[posterity]].
*3. 69:5.6 ''[[Vanity]]'' —longing to display one's [[property]] accumulations. Extra clothing was one of the first badges of distinction. [[Collection]] [[vanity]] early appealed to the [[pride]] of man.
*4. 69:5.7 ''[[Social Status|Position]]'' —[[eagerness]] to buy [[social]] and [[political]] [[prestige]]. There early sprang up a [[commercial]]ized nobility, admission to which depended on the [[performance]] of some special [[service]] to royalty or was granted frankly for the payment of [[money]].
*5. 69:5.8 ''[[Power]]'' —the craving to be master. [[Money|Treasure]] lending was carried on as a means of [[enslavement]], one hundred per cent a year being the loan rate of these ancient times. The moneylenders made themselves kings by creating a standing army of debtors. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_antiquity Bond servants] were among the earliest form of [[property]] to be accumulated, and in olden days debt [[slavery]] extended even to the [[control]] of the [[body]] after [[death]].
*6. 69:5.9 ''[[Fear]] of the [[ghosts]] of the dead'' —[[priest]] fees for [[protection]]. Men early began to give [[death]] presents to the [[priests]] with a view to having their [[property]] used to [[facilitate]] their [[progress]] through the next life. The priesthoods thus became very rich; they were chief among ancient [[capitalists]].
*7. 69:5.10 ''[[Sex]] urge'' —the [[desire]] to buy one or more [[wives]]. Man's first [[form]] of [[trading]] was [[woman]] exchange; it long preceded [http://www.wikpedia.org/wiki/Horse horse] trading. But never did the [[barter]] in [[sex]] [[slaves]] advance [[society]]; such traffic was and is a racial disgrace, for at one and the same time it hindered the [[development]] of [[family]] life and polluted the [[biologic]] fitness of superior peoples.
*8. 69:5.11 ''Numerous [[forms]] of [[self-gratification]]''. Some sought [[wealth]] because it conferred [[power]]; others toiled for [[property]] because it meant ease. Early man (and some later-day ones) tended to squander his [[resources]] on [[luxury]]. Intoxicants and [[drugs]] [[intrigued]] the [[primitive]] races.
69:5.12 As [[civilization]] [[developed]], men acquired new incentives for saving; new wants were rapidly added to the [[original]] [[food]] [[hunger]]. [[Poverty]] became so abhorred that only the rich were supposed to go direct to [[heaven]] when they died. [[Property]] became so highly [[valued]] that to give a pretentious feast would wipe a dishonor from one's [[name]].
69:5.13 Accumulations of [[wealth]] early became the badge of [[social]] [[Prestige|distinction]]. [[Individuals]] in certain [[tribes]] would accumulate [[property]] for years just to [[create]] an impression by burning it up on some holiday or by [[free]]ly distributing it to fellow [[tribesmen]]. This made them great men. Even modern peoples revel in the lavish [[distribution]] of [[Christmas]] gifts, while rich men [[endow]] great [[institutions]] of [[philanthropy]] and [[learning]]. [[Man]]'s [[technique]] varies, but his disposition remains quite unchanged.
69:5.14 But it is only fair to [[record]] that many an ancient rich man [[distributed]] much of his [[Wealth|fortune]] because of the [[fear]] of being killed by those who coveted his treasures. [[Wealth]]y men commonly [[sacrificed]] scores of [[slaves]] to show disdain for [[wealth]].
69:5.15 Though [[capital]] has tended to [[liberate]] man, it has greatly [[complicated]] his [[social]] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry industrial] [[organization]]. The [[abuse]] of [[capital]] by unfair capitalists does not destroy the [[fact]] that it is the basis of [[modern]] [[industrial]] [[society]]. Through [[capital]] and [[invention]] the present [[generation]] enjoys a higher [[degree]] of [[freedom]] than any that ever preceded it on [[earth]]. This is placed on [[record]] as a [[fact]] and not in justification of the many misuses of capital by thoughtless and selfish custodians.
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_69 Go to Paper 69]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 69 - Primitive Human Institutions]]