You be our servants and we will give you water. Part 1
There was a certain very dry land. The people were in need of water and looked for water from morning to night. Many people perished because they could not find it.
There were certain men in the land who we will call “Capitalists” that were more crafty and diligent than the rest. They gathered stores of water where the others could find none.
The people came and asked the Capitalists for water. But the Capitalists said: “Why should we give you water which we’ve gathered? So we will end up with a shortage of water and all die?
Let’s make a deal. You be our servants and we will give you water.”
“Ok, give us water and we and our children will be your servants” said the people.
The Capitalists, recognizing they had the advantage over the people, organized them so that some dipped the water, some carried the water and others looked for new springs.
They built a water tank where the people, including the Capitalists, came to get the water. And the tank was called The Market.
They brought all of the water into one place.
The Capitalists said to the people: “For every bucket of water you bring to us and pour into the tank, which is the Market, we will give you a penny. But for every bucket of water you draw out, you pay us two pennies and the difference will be our profit. If it weren’t for our profit, we would not do it and you would all die.
The people who were not as crafty as the Capitalists, diligently brought water and filled the tank. For each bucket they were paid one penny and for every bucket drawn to give to the people, the Capitalists received two pennies.
Soon the water tank, which was the Market, overflowed. For every bucket the people poured in they received only half as much money as would buy a bucket.
Because of the excess that was left from every bucket, the tank overflowed as there were many people. But there were fewer Capitalists and they could drink no more than the others.
When the Capitalists saw the overflowing tank, they told the people to stop bringing water until the tank was empty.
When the people received no more pennies, they could no longer buy water.
When the Capitalists stopped receiving pennies, they sent their employees to the people to advertise water.
But the people said “we have no money to buy unless you hire us as before. We are thirsty and would gladly buy water and you would not have to advertise…
The Capitalists said “because the tank, which is the market, overflows, you must buy first. Then when the tank is empty we will hire you again.
Because the people were not hired to bring more water, they could not buy more water. And because the people could not buy more water, the Capitalists no longer hired them to bring water.
A crisis developed.
The Capitalists owned all of the springs, the wells, the water wheel, the vessels and the buckets so the people could only buy water from the tank which was the Market.
The people protested against the Capitalists and said: “The tank runs over and we are dying of thirst. Give us water.”
The Capitalists said: “The water is ours. You can only drink it if you pay for it, Business is Business”.
But the Capitalists had no more profit because the people no longer brought water nor purchased it.
The Capitalists spoke among themselves and said: Our profits have stopped our profits and because of the profits we have made, we can make no more profits. How is it that our profits have become unprofitable to us and our gains really make us poor? Let us send for the soothsayers (lawyers) to interpret this thing.
The soothsayers joined with the Capitalists so they could drink the water and they spoke to the people for the Capitalists.
The Capitalists demanded the soothsayers straighten this out. Some soothsayers said “It is because of overproduction”, others said, “it is a glut,” yet others said: “it is because of spots on the sun.” And some said: “It is not glut nor spots on the sun but lack of confidence”.
While the soothsayers contended among themselves, the Capitalists said: “you have spoken to us, now go advise the people to buy our water so we are able to resume our profits.
The soothsayers, afraid of being stoned by the people, and seeing no possibility of gaining water by speaking to them, said to the Capitalists: “Masters, if men are not thirsty they will listen to us, but if they are thirsty they will not”.
The Capitalists said: “Go talk to them anyway.”
So the soothsayers explained the Principle of Overproduction to the people: how they must die of thirst because there was too much water and how there could not be enough because there was too much.
And the people said: “Does plenty breed famine? Does nothing come out of much?”
Part 2
And the people stoned them.