Economic prosperity has been the key focus of first-world society since the creation of currency itself, a focus

that drives every individual to reach the bright-line of success, a focus that both strengthens mans confidence
in his abilities and brings him to his knees in subservience, destroying his own personal identity. But who are
the actors behind the creation of economic prosperity? he essential vector is the state, the governmental
authority at the head of every nations locus of power and strength. hus when faced with the problem of
proliferating economic prosperity, governments look directly past the key issues preventing the prosperity from
happening in the first place, the lack of stable identity within the workforce and society itself. !n order to reach
prosperity, a government must stop focusing on the ideals of improving economic power, but should instead
focus on increasing the cultural heritage of its people.
he problems caused by the search of economic prosperity in the form of wealth is evident throughout the
entirety of society, seen in the faces of both the impoverished masses and prominent but few wealthy, a lack of
identity and a mask of ambition to hoard wealth. "imilar to the story of the wooden pencil in #! $encil% by
&eonard 'ead, society is #(taken for granted ( as if ! were a mere incident and without background.% )'ead,
pg.*+ he idea is simple, no matter what economic system, from communist to capitalist, the governmental
entity will constantly look for its own secure pathway to economic prosperity via a litany of efforts such as
subsidies to corrupt corporations, pardons for ma,or economic figures, the forced increase and demand for
foreign goods, the list is endless. -nd through this process, people are then taken for granted as simply
.ombified workers ready for work in the mill, simply cogs in an industrialist machine aiming for the creation of
currency. -nd through this process of being taken for granted, people lose their ambitions to improve the
world, and simply seek to repair or improve the situation they are currently in, a trend common to anyone from
any economic background, if one is poor, they seek to be rich, if one is rich, they seek to be richer. his lack of
motivation and improving the world and improving ones self is e/actly what leads to the selfish ideals of greed,
the hoarding of resources that has been shown throughout history to only increase conflict and reduce
efficiency as time goes on. !n a historical conte/t, we can see the prosperous 'oman Empire, a land of both
great military might and an invariable maelstrom of culture and discovery. !ts political boundaries were large,
but its cultural tendrils reached far beyond them, effectively changing European and -sian societies by simply
being in e/istence, often bringing prosperity with the influ/ and e/port of cultural significances from one area
to the other. -s the saying goes, #-ll roads lead to 'ome%, due to its central position as the seat of cultural
power these roads brought economic prosperity along their foot-worn paths. But as we can see when
0hristianity entered and began slaughtering the masses and strangling out the culture, not for economic
prosperity but their own sadomasochistic concept of purity, which then led to the widespread collapse of the
empire itself, once a land rich in both cultural significance and physical wealth, it was now a war-torn country
side with no meaningful e/istence.
!n #he 1reatest "tory 2obody 3nows -bout% by "teven &andsburg, we can see the same masking of the
individual in the face of money whenever he supports the 4uote5 #inventions reached their limit long
ago, and ! see no hope for further development.6, invariably showing the same bias inflicted upon the author by
the pursuit of wealth when he believes that invention and future development are nothing in the pursuit of
money)&andsburg, $g.*+, a similar stance taken by 7ohn 0. 1oodman in his article #0lassical &iberalism%, in
which he claims that the pursuit of money is e4uivalent with liberty)1oodman, pg. *+, and in his article #$ublic
0hoice%, wherein he constantly claims the government should be the ape/ of all public ingenuity in the face of
profit.)1oodman, pg. *+
!n essence we can conclude that a government that truly wants to find economic prosperity must not focus
on using its people as an economic tool, but must rather view them as individual actors in their own right,
sub,ectivities to improve their own futures and the futures of their peers, families, and friends. 8ithout which
people are simply turned into the wooden pencil, creatures with the potential to change history, but masked
under the cold hard mask of synthetic power created by the blind ambition of those with control. !f all roads
lead to the center of culture, then economic prosperity follows it shortly after.
8orks 0ited
*.+ 1oodman, 7ohn 0. 6$ublic 0hoice.6 National Center for Policy Analysis. 8eb. 9http5::debate-
central.ncpa.org:wp-content:uploads:;<*=:<>:$ublic-0hoice-7ohn-0-1oodman-20$-.pdf?.
;.+ 1oodman, 7ohn 0. 68hat !s 0lassical &iberalism.6 National Center for Policy Analysis. 2.p., n.d. 8eb.
9http5::debate-central.ncpa.org:wp-content:uploads:;<*=:<>:0lassical-&iberalism-7ohn-1oodman.pdf?.
=.+ &andsburg, "teven E. 6he 1reatest "tory 2obody 3nows -bout.6 National Center for Policy Awareness.
2.p., n.d. 8eb. 9http5::debate-central.ncpa.org:wp-content:uploads:;<*=:<>:he-1reatest-"tory-2obody-
3nows--bout.pdf?.
@.+ 'ead, &eonard. 6! $encil.6 National Center for Policy Analysis. 2.p., n.d. 8eb. 9http5::debate-
central.ncpa.org:wp-content:uploads:;<*=:<>:E/cerpt-from-!-$encil.pdf?.