The economy as a stack.

The modern economy is neither natural nor spontaneous. It is a stack that is built up in successive steps, one on top of the other. Many of the most important are no more than 300 years old.

Let's start from the beginning:

• The militarily strongest faction on a given territory eliminates all opposition, and is called government. It attributes to itself the monopoly of the use of force and violence. He calls his organization "country" and "nation" the geographic resources on which hegemonic.
• The state decides that the behavior required of those residing in the area is codified, abstract and general, called "law". It ensures by military power that it has a monopoly on the sources of law and the courts.
• The state decides to have a monopoly on the economy, by launching an abstract, all-dimensional and convertible quantity in every commodity and service, calling it money. It ensures that it is the only entity capable of minting valid currency in a given territory.

From here begins the construction of the economy itself.

1. Private Property: the state uses military power to give strength to a relationship between person, objects and services. This relationship subjects objects and services to the will of the "owner". The only exception is the state, which collects taxes regardless of the will of the people, and can have properties.
2. Libero Mercato: the state tolerates that two people can freely decide the price of a good or service that changes ownership. It is an invention that exists since the end of the Annonari systems. He's not over 400 years old. Previously there was a government agency, Annona, which controlled the price by managing the reserves.
3. Mercantilism. the state accepts that two people can act in free market conditions on any good or service, regardless of where they live, including foreigners. It dates back to the late 1700s. Previously, exports and imports required licenses and permits, depending on the goods and the period.
4. Capitalism. The state accepts that certain amounts of money have legal personality. Consequently, it is possible that there are companies made only of capital, and that it is possible to become members of a company without working or directing them, being the founders and responding with their own substances, in addition to those invested. It wasn't always like this, it dates back to the British 1800 and before the state preferred to deal with family dynasties, which it considered more stable. (and more similar to the monarchy)
5. Consumerism. The state accepts that people identify themselves in the lifestyle they lead, that is, in the properties of perishable goods and services they use, and no longer in the nation, in the state or in its attributes (national language, the religion of the state, laws, flag, political parties etc). It is no longer the state that recognizes the social status of people, but the lifestyle that the person leads. This has not always been the case: before the 1980s, personal identity was much more tied to concepts of state origin, such as the homeland, or the party of militancy, the language or state religion.

In general, the vast majority of our economy has nothing "ancient" or "natural" about it. It has existed for no more than 400 years, in absolute terms.