Adam Smith's, "The Wealth of Nations", was first published in 1776. Do you know what else happened in 1776? The "Declaration of Independence" was written, which I think is one of the most profound documents ever written. You may wonder: why do I mention this? Because it set forth the ideology of the first country in history that was founded on ideas. The ideas were not from Adam Smith. They came from John Locke, Montesquieu, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, and other enlightenment philosophers. The ideas included reason as the final arbiter of disputes, liberty, property, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, the separation of church and state, and that a person's life belonged to themselves, rather than to a king or tribe. These ideas brought the world out of a state of mental darkness, extreme poverty, and led to the social system of Capitalism, where men were free to trade and keep the products of their mind. The profound ideas in the "Declaration of Independence" were:

• All men are equal under the law
• All men, by their nature, had individual rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
• Government's function was to protect those rights

For thousands of years before Capitalism, most of mankind lived in a state of extreme poverty. Since Capitalism, the poorest of people are richer than the richest people before Capitalism. Before Capitalism, your life belonged to the king, the tribe, society, your family, or some other group.

You say the "...primary motivating factors in the marketplace are greed, herd instinct, and fear..." I disagree. The primary motivating factor is profit. What is profit in a free marketplace? It is the result of offering something that is a "win-win" trade. The buyer values what he purchases higher than its cost, and the seller is able to produce what he sells for lower than its cost. The same is true of someone working as an employee. The employee values the money he makes more than the time he spends working, and the employer values what the employee does more than the money he pays him.

Frederick Jameson said:
"it is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism,"

Capitalism is the way the majority of world's economies operate with no realistic alternative in sight...socialism/communism will not change how the marketplace is practiced. Governments are now aware that people have to be left (mostly) free for competition and growth otherwise people remain apathetic, and the economy suffers. Capitalism has trained populations to understand that achievement of their desire for a better life lies in the success of their material achievements.

Our understanding of human psychology and behavior is very different today than in Adams Smiths's time. The idea of what constitutes "rationality" and a "rational human" js partially contextually defined. What was considered rational in Smith's time was conditionally defined on the social morays of the time (eg. women were not considered a rational being, and blacks and indians were only half human). Therefore. not surprising that Smith presumed that humans were rational beings who acted for own self interest in the market place. It was a white male dominated society that viewed the world from this lens of shared. but specious understanding.

Those motivated ones who are rational will prosper. The lazy ones driven by greed, herd instinct, and fear will not. The motivated prosperous ones will continue to add value to society. The lazy greedy fearful herd mentality ones will rely on the safety net and complain about laissez faire capitalism.

Not every trader is driven by greed, herd instinct, and fear. I would suggest that those so driven are a small minority and that people like that are generally not successful. The most successful small business owners are thinking of ways to provide services to the public. Counting your winnings at the table leads to distraction and failure.

Typically investors own retirement funds, managed by professionals, and invested in a variety of mutual funds. It’s true that there are some daring investors who like to speculate, but a speculator driven by greed, herd instinct, and fear would fare very poorly in the stock market. The traits of a successful speculator are gutsyness, intelligence, individualism, and intuition. Of course speculators are also motivated—I guess you could label motivation as greed. If they are greedy, so are we all.

BTW, speculation serves a valuable, indispensable role in any market by evening out the cycles of supply and demand and lessening risk for those averse to risk.

Trading in a free-market economy has resulted in great material abundance to people around the world. Curtailment of free trade invariably brings poverty.