How Many Jobs In A Can of Beer

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How the wheels of commerce turn and how job creation is accomplished has always been something of a bit of fascination for me. And it helps, when you start to break it all down, to understand why capitalism, the free markets, and consumerism is the best form of economy there is. It is an economy that helps the most number of people to truly benefit and get ahead. So, take a simple can of beer. How many jobs are in a can of beer? There is the farmer who grows the barley and the hops. Someone must produce the yeast. All of these ingredients are processed. Then someone must transport these products both from the farm to the processors, and again to the brewery. Brewers make the beer. Keep in mind there are mechanics to maintain all of the equipment on the farms, in the processors, and in the brewery. There are parts manufacturers, sellers, and even more transporters and couriers involved in getting all of the raw materials and parts to their final destination. There are uniforms to be manufactured. Sometimes there are even services these operations hire to clean those uniforms, and people again to transport the uniforms to and from the cleaning facility, and all of the people who are involved in the processing of the chemicals needed to clean the uniforms. Someone must mine the aluminum, process the aluminum, and transport the aluminum to production facilities that make the cans. And those cans are of course manufactured and transported to the brewery for processing. There are inks on the cans. Designers who manage what a label looks like. There are the people who fill the cans, and then the cans have to be packaged in boxes. Those boxes have paper, inks, and of course a design. The paper has to be processed, the inks have to be processed, and of course someone is transporting the trees to the paper plant, the boxes to the packaging plant and so on and so forth. Don't forget all of the people involved in the manufacturing process of the boxes and who make all of the chemicals involved in the process of producing the paper and the inks on the boxes. Someone must also fix all of these semis and trailers transporting all of this stuff. Oh wait, and all of these trucks require fuel. Someone must make the fuel. And, oh yes, there are people who make and sell the parts for the trucks and trailers, and wait...the plants have to run to make the fuel so there are mechanics there as well... There are marketers, and TV commercials, and radio ads, and all sorts of people must be involved in that. There are of course umpteen thousands of paychecks to be processed, and more paper and more ink... Someone must transport the finished product to the distribution centers, and then to the stores, and then someone must load and unload the product, and stock the shelves. Someone must check out the product at the store and bag it up. And of course something has to be done with that can of beer after it is consumed. Either it is recycled or thrown away. Another trucks picks it up, and another operation processes the waste. Even when you pee, there is someone involved in processing the water to make it fresh again... I could go on and on and on, but I will spare you. I think you can see how many jobs are in a simple can of beer. Thousands. And thus, this is how the wheels of commerce turn, and how so many people benefit from one very simple transaction.