Raw materials and factors of production are not evenly spread throughout the world. Some areas have a greater abundance of certain resources, such as water, and others a greater abundance of sunlight. People are not equal either in inherent ability or in circumstance, thus some people are better at accomplishing certain tasks than others. As a consequence of this uneven distribution of resources and unequal distribution of human ability, it has become profitable for people to cooperate, to specialise in certain production and to trade with others who specialise in alternate production. A significant reason for the development of peaceful societal interaction is to facilitate cooperation, so that we may meet our needs and wants more efficiently. People have evolved language, etiquette and methods of reaching agreement, so that we can achieve sophisticated goals. Voluntary cooperation benefits all cooperating parties, otherwise we would not cooperate, or it would be coerced. All voluntary, peaceful human interaction is a form of cooperation. Bob will not speak to Alice, unless Alice gives him something in return, often, the other half of a conversation. Of course, conflicts emerge when one party transgresses another party’s property or is perceived to have transgressed. Suppose Bob dams a river, and Alice’s downstream land, becomes starved of water, leading to a reduction of output from the property, then Alice will maintain that Bob has aggressed against her, by altering her pre-existing water supply. Bob might in turn maintain that he has done nothing wrong, because he hadn’t gone near her property. Some method of resolving conflicts is required, and this system might also be voluntary. The State normally takes responsibility for deciding right and wrong, good or ill and responsibility for determining compensation, penalties etc. However, private arbitration and private legal systems could be possible and be mutually agreed, in a free, cooperative society. Initially, people traded using some sort of barter system, whereby a fisherman might exchange some fish, for potatoes. This is inefficient as it requires a “double coincidence of wants”, whereby the potato seller must want fish and the fisherman, must want potatoes. Eventually, the more marketable commodities acquired a value other than their value as a commodity and came to be used as a medium of exchange also. Throughout Human history, precious metals such as gold and silver have often acquired this usefulness in exchange and become money. Other interesting money commodities have included stones, salt, copper, iron and of course today, money has evolved into printed paper notes and electronic balances stored in computer memories. Clearly, not all human cooperation involves money and much cooperative effort avoids its use. Nevertheless, a social system is necessary for cooperation. Without such a system, there would be no language, and constant conflict would keep population of the species at a tremendously low level. Most species cooperate in some fashion, otherwise they would not be able to reproduce. Human cooperation is much more sophisticated and capable of achieving very high levels of productivity. This productivity allows us to achieve sophisticated goals and we engage in lofty pursuits, such as creating music and art.