The Silk Road was and is a network of trade routes connecting the East and West, and was central to the economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between these regions from the 2nd century BCE to the 18th century.[1][2][3] The Silk Road primarily refers to the land but also sea routes connecting East Asia and Southeast Asia with South Asia, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa and Southern Europe.
In its beginning, the secret Noble Order of the Knights of Labor (founded in 1869) proposed to replace capitalism with a system of worker cooperatives. Ten years later it became public and shredded the "noble" from its name. For a long time, it focused on economic benefits for its members.
