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for it to be used. A pile is an unordered collection of three or more objects of similar or dissimilar constitution. The pile must contain at least three objects because two objects can only be stacked. Likewise, the pyramid cannot be called a mere pile of stones because its constituent parts are arranged in a pre-determined order. Conversely, piles may be contained, hedged, or otherwise manicured so long as the individual components of the construction are placed with disregard to any culminating formation. The garbage within a waste bin is what is known as a contained pile.
The act of pile migration has been an absent-minded subsidiary of our society for as long as archeology can suppose a human culture. The gathering, so crucial to hunting and gathering, implies accumulation of goods before moving on to more fertile territories. The simple geometry of the pile appears throughout the natural world, and would have no doubt been the method of accumulation favored by these proto-materialist ancestors of ours. (This habit continues today in our most economically unburdened moments.) Taking a cue from the soft landscapes and organic forms that surrounded them, these pioneers of accumulation carried their small piles of gatherings with them in the process of migrating. Recent evidence supports the above theory. Several small collections of rocks resembling piles were discovered within fifty meters of the uncovered bones of our oldest hominid relative, “Lucy.” Scientists have dated Lucy to 3.2 million years young, firmly placing her within the accepted window of |
hunting-gathering culture. It is an accepted belief, by us, that Lucy was actively involved in pile accumulation. While not definitively proving that pile migration can defeat capitalism, this discovery of modern science does nothing to refute the theory.
No pile lasts forever, at least none yet documented. Nothing, in fact, can last forever if documentation is required. Regardless, even that noble pile of rock and dirt, Mt. Kilimanjaro, succumbs to the ebbs and flows of geologic time. Likewise, no economic system lasts forever. No currency can withstand the uneven passions of mankind. Economies are constructed as tools to aid in the allocation of resources in an efficient manner. Various societies throughout history have had more success than others in developing this tool.
The prevailing economy that proceeded capitalism was a mercantilist serfdom based upon the authority of nobility. This system collapsed not under the pressure of peasant rebellion, as is sometimes assumed, but under the pressure of the industrial revolution that ignited the very dominance of global capitalism. This serf based economy deprived the underclass of nearly all personal freedoms, while at the same time providing a better standard of living than early industrial conditions. This economy was disgustingly inefficient by modern standards. Potential consumers were separated by a vast distance and time from the resources they weren't aware they needed. The lack of uniform currencies and exchange rates made competitive pricing nearly impossible.
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