 what is the 'gift from Earth'?
A Gift From Earth By MANLY BANISTER Illustrated by KOSSIN [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction August 1955. "It is an outrage," said Koltan of the House of Masur, "that the Earthmen land among the Thorabians!" Around the table sat the six brothers—Koltan, eldest and Director of the Pottery; Morvan, his vice-chief; Singula, their treasurer; Thendro, sales manager; Lubiosa, export chief; and last in the rank of age, Zotul, who was responsible for affairs of design. It is our strength and our fortune. Earthmen may come and Earthmen may go, but clay goes on forever ... and with it, the fame and fortune of the House of Masur." By this, he seemed to imply that the Thorabians would rob the Earthmen, which the Lorians would not. "When your opinion is wanted, we will ask you for it. If it was impossible to hope for much in the way of metal from the Earthmen, what could one get from them? Speeches were made through interpreters, who had much too quickly learned the tongue of the aliens; hence these left much to be desired in the way of clarity, though their sincerity was evident. Accurate reporting, much less a newspaper, was unknown on Zur. Finally, the Earthmen took off in their great, shining ship. In spite of the fact that a terrestrial ship had landed at every Zurian city of major and minor importance, and all in a single day, it took some time for the news to spread. "There is a paper with each pot that explains how it is used. "The Earthman took them in trade—one reason why the new ones are so cheap. In the meantime, however, more things than pots came from Earth. This, for some unknown reason and much to the disgust of the Lorians, was set up in Thorabia. Moreover, the Earthmen brought miles of copper wire—more than enough in value to buy out the governorship of any country on Zur—and set up telegraph lines from country to country and continent to continent. Within five years of the first landing of the Earthmen, every major city on the globe had a printing press, a daily newspaper, and enjoyed the instantaneous transmission of news via telegraph. "As I have always said from the beginning," chortled Director Koltan, "this coming of the Earthmen had been a great thing for us, and especially for the House of Masur." They destroyed it, which proved how valueless it really was.
 capitalism
 capitalism  the printing press  metal, copper wire, and other goods  destruction of the caste system