In the early stages of society’s evolution, people can’t afford the untrammeled operations of that passion. The needs of the individual must yield to the imperatives of the group, such as the need to share the spoils of the hunt or the meager bounty of the harvest. In commercial society, however, self-interest can find a range of constructive outlets. Instead of enriching ourselves by robbing our neighbors at swordpoint, we open a store or bank. Instead of seeing the stranger from a foreign land as a potential enemy, we see him as a potential customer. Instead of representing a threat to the
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