Britain for the British

by Robert Blatchford

Now comes our second question: Where does wealth come from?

This question we must make into two questions—

1. Where does wealth come from?
2. Who produces wealth?

Because the question, "Where does wealth come from?" really means, "How is wealth produced?"

All wealth comes from the land.

All food comes from the land—all flesh is grass. Vegetable food comes directly from the land; animal food comes indirectly from the land, all animals being fed on the land.

So the stuff of which we make our clothing, our houses, our fuel, our tools, arms, ships, engines, toys, ornaments, is all got from the land. For the land yields timber, metals, vegetables, and the food on which feed the animals from which we get feathers, fur, meat, milk, leather, ivory, bone, glue, and many other things.

Even in the case of the things that come from the sea, as sealskin, whale oil, fish, iodine, shells, pearls, and other things, we are to remember that we need boats, or nets, or tools to get them with, and that boats, nets, and tools are made from minerals and vegetables got from the land.

We may say, then, that all wealth comes from the land.

This brings us to the second part of our question: "Who produces wealth?" or "How is wealth produced?"