Makers vs Takers

I just learned about a book by Jane Jacobs, Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politicswhich was published in 1992, from Duane J. Oldsen. It has a fascinating look at the two major systems of morality that we find in the world. Commercial Morality and Guardian (Political) Morality. Or what I like to call Makers vs Takers. The two are complimentary (neither does well without the other) and yet stand in opposition to each other. Things get really nasty when the spheres of influence are mixed without consideration for consequences.

Let me start with a couple of references. First The Wiki which provides a short look at the major points. Second is this pdf which is much more detailed with many excerpts from the book. However, I must caution that it is somewhat hard to read due to the many typos.

I want to start first with a table of contrasting moral precepts. Which I have modified slightly from the wiki to make the contrasts a little clearer.

Moral Precepts for Systems of Survival

Guardian System	Commercial System
Shun trading	Shun force
Take	Earn
Be obedient and disciplined	Be efficient
Adhere to tradition	Be open to inventiveness and novelty
Respect hierarchy	Use initiative and enterprise
Be loyal	Come to voluntary agreements
Take vengeance	Respect contracts
Deceive for the sake of the task	Dissent for the sake of the task
Make rich use of leisure	Be industrious
Be ostentatious	Be thrifty
Dispense largess	Invest for productive purposes
Be exclusive	Collaborate easily with strangers and aliens
Show fortitude	Promote comfort and convenience
Be fatalistic	Be optimistic
Treasure honor	Be honest

I think the commercial class is rather self explanatory but the political class needs some explanation.