i_pencil Reids The Story of Pencil in EnglishI Pencil My Family Tree as told to Leonard E Read I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and

you see? Not much meets the eye—some wood, lacquer, the printed labeling, graphite lead, a bit of metal, and an eraser. Innumerable antecedents, however, have contributed to my creation. For instance, my cedar wood comes from a tree—more specifically, from several trees in different parts of the world. These trees are harvested and transported to a factory where they are cut into small slats. The slats are then kiln-dried, which removes any remaining moisture, and then shaped into pencils. The graphite lead is also made from a variety of sources, including graphite mines in Ceylon, which are owned by a foreign company. The metal band that holds the eraser to the pencil is made from zinc, which is mined and refined in several countries. The eraser itself is made from a rubber-like material, which is produced by combining and refining different chemicals.

The miracle of my creation lies not only in the fact that each of these components was made and transported from all over the world, but also in the complexity of the processes that were involved in their creation. The machines that cut the wood, the conveyor belts that transport the slats, the kilns that dry them, the trucks that transport them—all of these were created by countless individuals who each had their own unique skills and talents.

And that’s not all. The entire process of creating a pencil is coordinated by the market, which determines the prices of the various components and the demand for the finished product. The people who harvest the wood, mine the graphite, refine the zinc, produce the rubber-like material, and transport all of these components to the factories are all acting in their own self-interest, trying to make a profit. And yet, through the invisible hand of the market, their actions are coordinated and directed towards the creation of a product that is useful and valuable to millions of people.

In short, I, Pencil, am a testament to the power of voluntary cooperation and the market economy. My creation is a result of the countless interactions and transactions between individuals, each acting in their own self-interest, but ultimately contributing to a greater good. So the next time you pick up a pencil to write or draw, remember the miracle that went into its creation, and the lesson it has to teach us about the power of the market and the importance of voluntary cooperation