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in fact represented consumption of irreplaceable wealth.
We have already said that nothing comes from nothing.
From what then, in terms of the consumption of our metal
resources, did our wealth come? By better understanding
the relationship between these aspects of production and
consumption, we might also gain further insight into the
potential ability of others to emulate the American
experience.
Before going further, it is necessary to take a
closer look at some important terms, such as "production,
"resources," and "abundance."
Production is usually defined as the creation
of utility, the making of goods or services for the
satisfaction of human wants; but, "production" and
"productive activities" are very ambiguous terms with
which to deal. Production involves the creation of
utility but it ultimately is concerned with the manip
ulation of materials. As such, production deals not
only with creation but with conversion. Utility is
created. Materials are converted. Substances are
rearranged to suit men's fancy through productive effort,
but the materials from which final items are made must
exist before any production can take place. Ideas and
skills, with nothing to embody them, remain ideas and
skills and nothing more.