In the book Myth America: Democracy v. Boyer (2003) writes of the fallacy of capitalist economic theory that asserts that the free market has an infinite capacity to correct all of the excesses of capitalism without government intervention. In fact, Boyer contends, Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations and a man who is often called the intellectual father of capitalism, contended that humbling and monotonous routines often grind down the spirit of the common worker, rather than enrich his or her mind. However, Boyer includes a quote from The Wealth of Nations where Smith seems to be critiquing, not capitalism per se, but routine work in general. Grinding and monotonous routines could be characteristic of a rural or agrarian economy, where a farmer makes all of his or her own goods, as well as capitalist factories.

             Furthermore, capitalist life has changed a great deal since Smith critiqued the monotony of hard work that makes people, in his words "stupid and ignorant" as a beast of burden. (Smith, 1997, cited in Boyer, p.81) In today's capitalist marketplace, employers will often pay for their worker's continued schooling to enhance the education of dedicated employees. Workers have vaster opportunities to engage in socially mobile labors that lead to increased cultural exposure through travel, as opposed to the narrow existence of a laborer in Smith's day. Workers gain access to knowledge about new technology such as the Internet through their workplaces that they might not be able to otherwise. Also, work can draw individuals into new social experiences from the sort of narrow, rural existences even Smith saw as limiting and dull.

             Adam Smith might critique Boyer's central contention by saying that in today's free market, it is in the interest of today's employer to employ a worker who is educated, interested, and literate about world around him or herself. It is in the employer's interest to educate a worker who can add to a business' technical capabilities.