CHAPTER 1

Putting People First

Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.

—Henry David Thoreau

I have recently finished writing another book, which examines the role of capitalism and human capital in our economic life. Whilst researching for the project, I was struck by the way in which the capitalist system is based on the notion of ‘price’ while being associated ideologically with freedom. The conclusion I came to during my research was that capitalism really does place a price on freedom and it is a lot higher than you might think. For too many of us, we spend our lives in servitude to others. Whether it is our corporate masters, our creditors, ...

Get The Challenge to Be and Not to Do now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.