I, Pencil, I Whisky

I've loved Leonard Read's I, Pencil. It's a classic.

Reed slowly explains how nobody in the world knows how to make a pencil. Knowing how to make a pencil means knowing how to get the wood, which means knowing how to make the axes and transport vehicles, which means knowing how to mine and smelt iron, which means knowing how to make the machines to do all that, and how to feed and clothe and house all of the people involved at every step in the process. It's a beautiful exposition of what the market coordinates voluntarily, automatically, without anybody much thinking about it.

There's an excellent kids' book version of it now out. My kids have enjoyed; yours might too.

But for the grownups, consider I, Whisky.