Today is... Publication Of Wealth Of Nations In 1776

As most of the Planet follow the Capitalist system, Adams Smith's book could be described as one of the most influential books ever written and it has undoubtedly reshaped the world and lifted people out of poverty over the last two centuries, increased standards of living and resulted in inventions that have
radically improved our lives but it has come at a cost.
Making a profit has become the over-riding philosophy to the detriment of society and with those with the most to gain from Capitalism making the decisions, Capitalism will not be replaced anytime soon but with a significant gap between the wealth of the richest and poorest people continuing to grow, it appears that the Books overriding theme that the motivating force of economic growth was selfishness has been widely undertaken.
The Smith analogy was that: 'It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest' which means that the Butcher is not selling you meat because he enjoys or wants to sell you meat, he is only doing it to make money and this desire to
make money benefited everyone as he spent this money hiring people and buying other things from people selling items and the money went around and everyone got a slice.
Smith's idea was being selfish and greedy is the key to satisfying everyone but while his idea of selfishness running the economy has been taken up with gusto, he did underestimate the pathetic self-regulating powers of mankind when it came to being self-serving.
He called it 'the invisible hand', an idea that even if corporations act like greedy dickholes, the market will always deal with them by itself without the Government butting in to regulate corporations, or tax the rich, or bother with commie bullcrap like welfare, so just sit back, and let the invisible hand sort it all out therefore proving Capitalism is just the tops.
Without doubt Capitalism filled the bank accounts of the top end while it empties those at the bottom and for the most beneficial recipients of the Wealth of Nations mantra, it's all fine and Capitalism works for everyone as long as nobody gets sick, grow old, are poor or underprivileged, lose their job or expect to eat decent food.