A Lesson in the Dreary Science

David Warren again:

There are two, and only two ways, to survive in nature. One is by diligent work, and one is by appropriating the work of others. The piratical approach works well for the larger predatory animals in the wild, but only so long as the diligent little creatures on which they depend for their sustenance can themselves multiply.

In human affairs, a whole social order based on someone else working is what we might call "ecologically fragile."

Source here.