The economic fundamental is labor. Labor is the human element which makes the fruitful seasons of the earth useful to men. It is men's labor that makes the harvest what it is. That is the economic fundamental: Every one of us is working with material which we did not and could not create, but which was presented to us by Nature.
The moral fundamental is man's right in his labor. This is variously stated. It is sometimes called "the right of property." It is sometimes masked in the command, "Thou shalt not steal." It is the other man's right in his property that makes stealing a crime. When a man has earned his bread, he has a right to that bread. If another steals it, he does more than steal bread; he invades a sacred human right. If we cannot produce we cannot have - but some say if we produce it is only for the capitalists. Capitalists who become such because they provide better means of production are the foundation of society. ...
An excerpt from My Life and Work by Henry Ford, 1922. Have a happy Labor Day.
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