Man cannot create material things. In the mental
 and moral world indeed he may produce new ideas;
 but when he is said to produce material things, he
 really only produces utilities; or in other words,
 his efforts and sacrifices result in changing the
 form or arrangement of matter to adapt it better to
 the satisfaction of wants. All that he can do in
 the physical world is either to readjust a log of
 wood into a table; or to put it in the way of being
 made more useful, by nature, as when he puts seed
 where the forces of nature will make it burst into
 life. (1)

 Almost all actions lead to the satisfaction of

wants, else they would not be undertaken; therefore, any

number of activities may be thought of as productive.

But some goods and services, and hence the types of

productive activities which generate them, are more

essential than others, and the most essential is the

provision of food. It has been said that man can be

neither prophet nor poet unless he has relatively

recently had something to eat.

 A host of other goods and services comes to

mind as being essential to greater or lesser degree

after the provision of food. Goods that furnish shelter,

clothing, transportation, and protection from natural

disaster and from other people; and services that

provide social situations for enjoyment, education,

entertainment, and leisure are needed. But man the


 1Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics (8th
 ed.; Toronto: Macmillan Company, 1966), p. 53.

 2The importance of food apparently has been
partially forgotten by some who would place great emphasis
upon the production of manufactured goods, supposedly
because manufacturing is more "productive" in a monetary
sense.