America’s Early Socialists

Om was a flint striker; actually, he was considered by many to be the best flint striker in the world. It was a much smaller world a thousand years ago, but his skills made him one of the richest men in the known world.

Traders, warriors, and hunters came to trade for his precious articles made of flint. He had never traveled far from the quarry he was born in; since the quarry contained the wealth of one of the richest kingdoms in the known world. If he left, a powerful man or chief might move in and be impossible to dislodge. It was true enough, he was said to be the greatest artisan in the world, but the skills needed to work flint and obsidian were not that difficult to acquire, he and his sons were just the best at those skills. No, he was content to stay in the quarry that had belonged to his ancestors for generations.