It Takes a Thousand People to Create a Pencil

Milton Friedman used to give an example of “The Power of the Pencil” as an illustration of the wonder of the free market—namely, that one person alone could not create the pencils we have, but a thousand people labor and cooperate together to produce a pencil that we can purchase for a a trifling sum.

The video below tells the story well. For those who have eyes to see, it’s also an amazing testimony, I think, to divine providence and as our work as image bearers in reflecting his creativity (even if unwittingly) and having appropriate dominion over creation.