By: R.J. Moeller

Thus far we've covered Scarcity and Property Rights, so today we move on to the third Free Market Essential:

Division of Labor-

In the past, a farmer and his family would have to produce for themselves nearly everything they needed to survive. Other than the occasional 4-mile horseback ride to borrow a cup of sugar from the neighboring farm to make those Johnny Cakes your brother Zebedee loved so very much, families relied on what they could make or grow.

The lack of technology, transportation, and communication prevented Americans from effectively maximizing their time, resources and talents.

In the days of yore, three rural neighbors (Joe, Jim, and Jack) used to have to each grow their own corn, milk their own cows, and raise their own pigs for bacon. Eventually they realized that it was infinitely more sensible and cost effective for Joe (who lived for tilling his fields) to grow corn; and Jim (who always raved about his cows) to focus on dairy-related products; and Jack (who never met a BLT he didn’t love) to raise himself some hogs.

The logic that Joe, Jim, and Jack arrived at, without any government program mandating their actions I might add, is “Division of Labor”, or "specialization", in a nutshell.

I think it is fairly obvious how much more effective and productive this way of doing things is when compared to the meagerly “self-sufficient” farms of centuries past, or the centrally-controlled planning systems of Soviet Russia, but I’m not sure most people appreciate just how important Division of Labor is to their own lives (and to the concept of personal liberty).

Although not everyone gets the job of their dreams (see: scarcity), the fact that Americans can even theoretically pursue the career they want is a direct result of the fact that you do not have to churn your own I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter or extract the Guava for your herbal shampoo.

Think about it.

I barely tolerate having to dress myself in the morning, so the thought of having to harvest the green beans for that delicious casserole mom makes every Thanksgiving leaves me in cold sweats.

I cherish Division of Labor. We all do.

You can be a community organizer or a venture capitalist or a school teacher or a pastor who eats hamburgers on the 4th of July because a cattleman in Texas gets up every morning the rest of the year to make sure his steers are healthy and primed for the meat-grinder. You have an iPhone because the brilliant minds that conceived such amazing technology didn’t have to raise the wheat for the bagel they ate for breakfast.

Economies grow, innovations abound, and prosperity becomes reality where Division of Labor exists. It’s not a guarantor of success, but it is a prerequisite for it.

(Join us next time for Part IV: Competition)