One of the accomplishments distributions point to are European cathedrals, which were built by hundreds/thousands of self-employed craftsman who owned their own

One of the accomplishments distributions point to are European cathedrals, which were built by hundreds/thousands of self-employed craftsman who owned their own tools. A modern equivalent would be a company like Google paying thousands of full-time freelancers to bring their own computers and work on large systems together. Or in the case of a Trans-Atlantic cable, paying independent electrical engineers, electricians, boat owners, etc. to work together to lay the cable. Distribution doesn’t rule out forming collectives, corporations or joint ventures to accomplish tasks, either, and a professional might be part of more than one “employer” in this sense.