I think that one of the most splendid confidence tricks of all history has been played on the West.  I say ONE of, because the great  Man in the Sky con of the late Bronze Age still holds the title, but this one  alsorates.

It is audacious in its scope and marvelous in it's simplicity. I would call it, Can't Buy Me Love.

In essence: We have agreed, somehow, to buy our dreams back, from people who do not have them to sell to us.

There is of course, much in this world to be bought, and rightly so. We need shoes for our feet, clothes for our backs and rubber for our wheels. I see no mischief in this kind of transaction. Nor do I see anything wrong with an advert that says: here are good tyres, good shoes, good shirts. We need them, and we should be grateful to the unseen hands that work hard to make them for us.

What makes me stare in wonder is the way that we pay money for goods, when what we crave is closeness to other human beings.