The Merchant Identity

I think the way that merchants ae seen by society doesn't change when they're only participating in mercantile activities. There's an ongoing acceptance that trading overseas does require a particular set of skills, and people recognize that merchants have that. I think where we see the criticism of this merchant identity is in locations where they're moving beyond what's considered its sort of just acceptable trade. It's these steps beyond what's acceptable the motivate people to question whether merchants are taking advantage of their unique status in society. On the other hand, merchants themselves, as you might expect, do not quite take that perspective. They instead see their unique skirls, their experience, as being a reason