According to this passage, Emerson sees demand and
supply as
Wealth brings with it its own checks and balances. The
basis of political economy is non interference. The only
safe rule is found in the self-adjusting meter of demand
and supply. Do not legislate.... Make equal laws: secure
life and property, and you need not give alms. Open the
doors of opportunity to talent and virtue, and they will do
themselves justice, and property will not be in bad hands.
In a free and just commonwealth, property rushes from
the idle [lazy] and imbecile, to the industrious, brave, and
persevering
-Culture, Behavior, Beauty,
Ralph Waldo Emerson
a means of production
O a challenge to private ownership
O a principle that keeps the economy stable
O a barrier to free trade