We hold these truths to be self-evident...

...until we don't:

Throughout history and across continents, economies have played the game using different rules: No one can own the land. All land belongs to kings and aristocrats. Property is entailed and cannot be sold by the owners or heirs. All property should be held in common. Property should be private. Labor belongs to kings and aristocrats and must be supplied on demand. A man’s labor is his own. Women belong to men. Women are independent economic actors. Children are a great source of cheap labor. Child labor is a violation of human rights. Humans can be the property of other humans. No human can be enslaved by another.

Tim O’Reilly, reminding us that most (all?) supposedly unalterable facts about political economy are nothing of the sort.

It's a thought that's hopeful and terrifying in equal measure, but at least it liberates us from the silly, narrow-minded, dogmatic hubris of "There is no alternative."

There are always alternatives. Countless alternatives. Choosing the best (ot the least worst) is the really hard bit.