An asset is the foundation of all economic activity. If you have assets, you can run a business and settle your debts. The ways to create assets are ‘how one works,’ ‘how to receive gifts from others,’ and ‘how to purchase assets made by others.’ There is a way to steal, but it is a crime. If you don’t initially own an asset, the simplest and almost the only way to create one is to produce something with your own labor. Whether the product is a service or a good, it must be produced unconditionally. Trading products creates added value. Thinking about trading later and making products first is the fastest and most basic way to escape poverty. Therefore, produce even the smallest things every day. Knowledge, records, art—whatever! - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
One reason for the Dutch’s wealth was the strong trust between the merchants and sailors responsible for trade. Captain Willem Barentsz failed in 1596 while attempting to open a northeast route to the Far East via Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean. An accident occurred in which 8 out of 18 sailors died after being trapped in glaciers at temperatures of -40 degrees for 8 months, marking a setback for the development of a new maritime route. However, the captain and crew did not disturb the cargo, and on June 13, 1597, they split into two small ships and escaped the glacier. Fifty days later, they were rescued by a Russian merchant ship. Captain Barentsz died on the journey home, but the crew returned the consigned cargo to its owners intact after getting home. Trust means taking your life as collateral. Business is built on this trust. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”