293 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
293 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
--- ENTITY: commerce-of-towns ---
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# Commerce of Towns
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## Definition
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The commercial activities and trading relationships that develop in urban
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centres, creating markets for rural produce and generating wealth that flows
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back to improve agricultural lands and rural conditions through land purchases,
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improvements, and the introduction of order and good government.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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This chapter's central concept explaining how urban commercial activity drives
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rural improvement through three mechanisms: creating markets for agricultural
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produce, wealthy merchants purchasing and improving uncultivated lands, and
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gradually introducing order and good government to rural areas that previously
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lived in continual war and servile dependency.
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## Economic Domain
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Exchange
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---
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--- ENTITY: improvement-of-the-country ---
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# Improvement of the Country
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## Definition
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The process by which rural lands become more productive and valuable through
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cultivation, infrastructure development, and better management, driven by urban
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commercial wealth that creates markets for agricultural produce and funds land
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purchases and improvements by wealthy merchants seeking to become country
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gentlemen.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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The ultimate outcome that Smith argues results from the commerce of towns,
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describing how three mechanisms work together to transform rural areas from
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states of war and dependency into ordered, productive, and prosperous regions.
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## Economic Domain
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Production
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---
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--- ENTITY: merchant-country-gentleman-transition ---
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# Merchant-Country Gentleman Transition
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## Definition
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The social and economic phenomenon where successful urban merchants acquire
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rural estates and become country landowners, bringing with them commercial
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habits of profitable investment, order, economy, and attention that make them
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particularly effective improvers of agricultural land compared to traditional
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country gentlemen.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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Smith's second mechanism explaining how commerce improves the country, noting
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that merchants accustomed to profitable projects are bolder and more effective
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land improvers than traditional country gentlemen who employ capital mainly in
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expense rather than investment.
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## Economic Domain
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Distribution
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---
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--- ENTITY: commercial-hospitality-contrast ---
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# Commercial Hospitality Contrast
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## Definition
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The fundamental difference between traditional rural hospitality based on
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consuming surplus produce locally with retainers and dependents, and modern
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commercial society where wealth is spent on manufactured goods and personal
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consumption rather than maintaining large numbers of dependent followers.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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Smith uses historical examples from medieval England and Scottish Highlands to
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illustrate how commerce and manufactures transformed the spending habits of the
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wealthy from maintaining large retinues to purchasing manufactured goods, thereby
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breaking the power of great proprietors over their dependents.
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## Economic Domain
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Consumption
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---
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--- ENTITY: retainers-and-dependents-system ---
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# Retainers and Dependents System
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## Definition
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The pre-commercial social structure where great landowners maintained large
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numbers of followers and dependents who received subsistence directly from the
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landowner's bounty, creating a system of obligation and power based on the
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landowner's ability to consume surplus agricultural produce locally.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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Smith describes this as the feudal system where landowners had nothing to
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exchange their surplus produce for, so they consumed it through maintaining
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retainers, creating a power structure based on direct subsistence provision
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rather than market exchange.
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## Economic Domain
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Distribution
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---
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--- ENTITY: market-price-mechanism-for-rude-produce ---
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# Market Price Mechanism for Rude Produce
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## Definition
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The process by which urban commercial centres create ready markets for
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agricultural produce, encouraging cultivation and improvement through better
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prices for growers while offering cheaper goods to consumers, with the greatest
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benefit accruing to neighbouring rural areas due to lower transportation costs.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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Smith's first mechanism explaining how commerce improves the country, showing
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how towns provide markets that extend beyond their immediate vicinity to all
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regions with which they trade, encouraging agricultural industry and
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improvement throughout connected areas.
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## Economic Domain
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Exchange
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---
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--- ENTITY: commercial-order-and-government-introduction ---
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# Commercial Order and Government Introduction
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## Definition
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The gradual process by which commerce and manufactures introduce regular
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government, individual liberty and security to rural areas that previously
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experienced continual war with neighbours and servile dependency on superiors,
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representing the most important but least observed effect of commercial
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development.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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Smith's third mechanism for rural improvement, arguing that commercial society
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fundamentally transforms social relations by giving landowners something to
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exchange their surplus produce for, breaking their dependence on retainers and
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allowing the establishment of regular government and individual rights.
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## Economic Domain
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Regulation
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---
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--- ENTITY: diamond-buckles-metaphor ---
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# Diamond Buckles Metaphor
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## Definition
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Smith's illustration of how commercial wealth transforms aristocratic spending
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from maintaining large numbers of dependents to purchasing trivial luxury goods,
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showing that for the gratification of childish vanity, great proprietors
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bartered their whole power and authority for frivolous items that provided
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exclusive personal consumption.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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Used to demonstrate how the introduction of commerce gave landowners a method
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of consuming their entire rent themselves without sharing it, leading them to
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exchange the maintenance of 1000 men for a year for personal luxury items,
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thereby destroying their political power.
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## Economic Domain
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Consumption
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---
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--- ENTITY: commercial-independence-effect ---
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# Commercial Independence Effect
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## Definition
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The transformation whereby tenants and retainers become independent of great
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proprietors as commercial wealth changes spending patterns, with tenants no
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longer dependent on landlord bounty for subsistence and retainers dismissed,
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allowing regular government to function without interference from powerful
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landowners.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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The culmination of Smith's argument showing how commercial society breaks the
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power of great proprietors by making their dependents independent, leading to
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the establishment of regular government in both town and country.
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## Economic Domain
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Distribution
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---
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--- ENTITY: commercial-family-duration-pattern ---
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# Commercial Family Duration Pattern
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## Definition
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The observation that very old families possessing considerable estates for many
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generations are rare in commercial countries but common in countries with little
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commerce, explained by the tendency of commercial wealth to dissipate through
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extravagant personal spending while simple agricultural societies maintain
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wealth within families.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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Smith's final observation on the social effects of commerce, noting that
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commercial countries see wealth dissipate through vanity and lack of bounds on
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personal expense, while simple nations maintain family wealth through the
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consumable nature of their property.
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## Economic Domain
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General Theory
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---
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--- ENTITY: commercial-development-sequence-inversion ---
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# Commercial Development Sequence Inversion
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## Definition
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The observation that in most of Europe, commerce and manufactures preceded and
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caused agricultural improvement, contrary to the natural order where agriculture
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should develop first, making this development both slow and uncertain compared
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to colonies where agriculture comes first.
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## Source Chapter
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Book III, Chapter 4
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## Context
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Smith notes this inversion explains why European agricultural development |