In a world that had for so long been so poor, nothing was so important as to win an increase in wealth. The prescription—to free men from the restraints and protection of feudal and mercantilist society and put them on their own—was sound, for it was already proving itself. This was not a compassionate world. Many suffered and many were destroyed under the harsh and unpredictable rule of competition and the market. But many had always perished for one reason or another. Now some were flourishing. This was what counted. One looked not at the peril and misfortune, for there had always been peril
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