ABSTRACT
It is extremely foolish to ship great quantities and varieties of unnecessary goods across the seas. If we stopped importing such things from China, we should not yearn for them. Wise people do not esteem things from faraway and do not value products that are difficult to come by. 1 These sentiments were penned over six hundred years ago. In those days, the quantities of goods were relatively small, manufacturing was done by skilled craftspeople, and ships were powered by wind and sail. How much more foolish is it now, when manufacturing and shipping are achieved by burning immense quantities of hydrocarbons and products are so short-lived?
