Good essay Gabriel. However, it is pretty much a standard naturalistic apology for a highly stratified society. Most of the ladders have been replaced by shoots of late. Even when Adam Smith wrote (1776, a good year) when he invokes free markets, he meant free from the rentier class. And the Wealth of Nations was the second part of his 2 volume thesis, which rests on his earlier volume, The Moral Sentiments. Late stage capitalism is all wank all the time now. Note: https://medium.com/@daneke/when-the-wank-became-swank-money-banking-and-the-evolution-of-the-all-debt-economy-22e334f8ee3e