How is wealth conceived or perceived with respect to its significance and role to social progress during the pre-industrial and post-industrial eras?

In traditional era, the wealth will be associated the land held by the person. Generally, the leader or master encompassing of the kings and aristocrats will have plenty of lands. This will determine their economic level in the society of the leaders. At one point, king in feudal system threaten by his aristocrats who having plenty of lands but rebellious toward him. The feeling existed because of the hierarchy of this aristocrat in the economy. One of the factors that have lead to the rebellious and anti-establishment of aristocrats was from the introduction of taxes imposed to the productions from the lands onto them.

In order for the king to gain loyalty from the aristocrats, the king will give fees or salaries to the aristocrats who do the work for him such as collecting taxes. Before that, the aristocrats were not been given salaries for the taxes collected for the king, and their loyalties were of questionable. With more taxes collected through this system, the king will have the enough reserves to be spent on the country progress and good armies. One cannot maintain first class army with third class economy. The reserves will also be used to provide infrastructure and other facilities in the country.

As mentioned before, the serf or commoners were entrusted with their master’s land in exchange to services to be performed toward his master. These master-servant relationships have bounded them into harmony relationship. It will be alright for them if their master wanted them to work harder to help their master to pay the taxes because they will be reward gratuitously back from their master such as better house to live.

In modern economy, wealth are associated with money. The economy activities will also use money as the medium of exchange. With the uniformity of medium of exchange, this will stimulate the country’s economy activities. There’ll be an increase in production because the money as an exchange will help the supply meets the demand. The flourish the economy system is, the more better the citizens in the country will be. The government of the country will imposed taxes, direct or indirectly, to all economy activities in order to finance country development. For example, the taxes collected will be used to built roads, buildings and other infrastructures to the society.