promotes the wellness of his society; the worker generally, "neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it." In this, the greed inherent in man as an individual is not an entirely self-serving entity- competition is motivated by self-interest, and self-interest eventually, "as if by an invisible hand" prompts the individual to, in striving to benefit himself, also benefit society at large (p. 197-198).
Because Smith sees the perpetuation of self-interest as a key component in a properly functioning society, so he naturally envisions free trade and open markets as the best way for self-interest and competition to flourish. Therefore, governments are encouraged to take a non-mercantilist approach. In Smith's eyes, governments are not fit to decide the manner in which an individual may employ his own capital in the marketplace. Those who would attempt to direct private people in this way would, according to Smith, "assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatever"(p. 200).
All of Smith's ideas revolve around a modern conception of labor in the industrial world. "Labor," he argues, "is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities." In this, he means that when a person possesses a commodity and intends to exchange it in the marketplace, the value of his commodity will be equal to that of the quantity of labor that his commodity allows him to purchase. The individual must naturally go to market if he is to procure life's "necessaries, conveniences, and amusements". Man is not self-sufficient unto himself. This is why free, industrial capitalism works: an individual must satisfy most of life's requisites through the labor of other people. And, that individual will naturally be considered rich or poor depending on how much labor he can command in the marketplace (p. 197).
Therefore, in the end,...