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The story of Adam and Steve (a fable). Ken: Dad, what do we do know? Adam: Well, we'll have to apply reason to the problem of survival. Ken: What? Adam: We'll have to learn how to produce food for our subsistence. Ken: Oh. They all slept the first night in the airplane and Steve and his son, Abe, woke up to see that Adam and Ken had already left the plane. Abe: Dad, where'd they go? Steve: I don't know. Let's follow their tracks. But, before they get ready to leave the plane, Adam and Ken return. Adam: Look. I found these wild grasses, and I'm going to harvest them and even domesticate them. Abe: Cool, that kind of an enterprise has the potential to produce food on an ongoing basis. Ken: But we are not "our brother's keeper" so, in order to ensure that you and your dad get a steady supply of the food that my dad creates, we need to come to mutual consent in exchanging value for value. Abe: We have to what? Ken: We have to divide our labor and trade. Abe: Oh. Okay. But what's the alternative to that, though? Adam: We'd have to attempt to live like tribal savages, go to war with each other, and lose about half or more of our current man-power (and possibly our own lives) in the process. Steve: And we don't want to do that. Let's stick to plan # 1, where we each specialize in order to produce some kind of value better than the others can or do -- and at the end of the day, we come together and trade in a completely free and open manner. A few months go by and the situation has evolved somewhat. Steve is the specialized fisherman, Abe creates fish hooks, Adam is the specialized farmer, and Ken creates farming tools. Abe: Hey Adam, how's it going? Adam: Oh, it's going great, ever since Ken starting making these crude wooden plows to sell to me. Heck, in just 25-30 hours of personal labor, I can produce 10 bushels (0.5 acres) of wheat by hooking the plow up to those oxen over there! I can produce so much value for each hour of effort, that I've begun to use my spare time to think up ways to be even more efficient. And, since Ken's plow invention was such a boon to me, I've paid him handsomely and -- because of that (because of his unfettered industriousness) -- he has even more free time than I do, and is taking time to date the indigenous girls and has already gone and got a few of them pregnant. With kids on the way, he is already working on an automated seed-sower which will save me even more time, and hence make the both of us even richer! Abe: That's cool. Adam: How's the fishing business been treating you? Abe: It's going good. I've been making these cool fish-hooks for my dad and it has boosted his fishing production by 200%. He pays me well for that. Heck, if he didn't, I'd stop making fish hooks and go into the farm-tool production business! Adam: Yep, that looming competition on the horizon keeps your dad cognizant of the fact that he has to pay you well in order to keep your services. It's almost like an invisible hand is reaching into his pocket when it comes time to pay you for what you have intelligently produced. [steps in closer, as if to tell a secret] As long as there is free competition, Abe, you can always count on an ever-increasing production of value for trade and profit. Abe: [pauses] Hey, where's Ken? Adam: He has probably just finished creating that automated seed-sower that I ordered and is celebrating with his indigenous friends. A few years go by and the situation has evolved somewhat. Ken and Abe made a lot of friends and a lot of babies and the "family" has been increased into the dozens. Ken: Hey Dad, here's that gang plow, seeder, harrow, binder, thresher, wagons, and horses that you ordered. Adam: Oh thanks, Ken. How much do I owe you? With these items, and with just 4 to 5 hours of personal labor, I can produce 10 bushels of wheat -- leaving me with so much spare time that I can devote most of my day to my real passion in life: basket-weaving! Ken: Uh, Dad, please don't say that when other people are around. Okay? Adam: What? Just because I'm not a rich playboy such as yourself? I can't have my own passions in life? Does that e-m-b-a-r-a-s-s you? [gets serious] Alright, alright I won't advertise the fact that your dear ole' dad is a notorious basket-weaver! [both of them laugh; and the profits keep flowing, and flowing, and flowing] Another few years go by and the situation has evolved somewhat. The dozens of people in the family has turned into hundreds of people, and more room was created for the division of labor and specialized tool-making and even a new market for art work. Ken: Hey Dad, here's that 3-bottom gang plow, tractor, 10-foot tandem disk, harrow, 12-foot combine, and trucks that you had ordered. Adam: Oh, thanks Ken! How much do I owe you? With these items, and just 1.5 to 2 hours of labor, I can produce 10 bushels of wheat -- leaving me with more time to devote to my second hobby of ... Ken: [abruptly] Dad, don't say it. Don't tell me. I don't want to know. Adam: Fair enough, Ken. I won't say another word about my second hobby of collecting and selling intricate sea shells. [both of them laugh; and the profits keep flowing, and flowing, and flowing] Another few years go by and the situation has evolved somewhat. The hundreds of people in the family has turned into thousands of people, and Steve had come up with the idea that, in order to ensure the free flow of the trade of goods and services, that they would need a strong government to enforce contracts (and that he would be "the government"). So Steve retires from his "trade" (which is to fish the sea), and teaches his kid, Abe, to fish in order to take over his former position in the "market". Abe had already been specializing on making highly-effective fish hooks for his dad, so it wasn't much of a switch for him to move into the position of "full fisherman". Ken: Hey Dad, here's that tractor, 10-foot plow, 12-foot role weeder, harrow, 14-foot drill and self-propelled combine, and trucks that you had ordered. Adam: Oh great, Ken. With these items, and with just 0.6 to 1.2 hours of personal labor, I can produce 10 bushels of wheat, leaving more time for ... Ken: Dad, we've been through this before. I don't want to hear about the latest wacky craze that you are into. Okay? Adam: Well, okay, but how much do I owe you? Ken: Dad, before we talk about that, can we talk about something else? Adam: Sure, what's on your mind, son? Ken: Well, you know that tractor, 35-foot sweep disk, 30-foot drill, 25-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks that you have just placed on order? Adam: Yeah, with those items, and with less than 20 minutes of personal labor, I could produce 10 bushels of wheat. ... What about it? Ken: Well, you know that Steve has just made himself into "the government" right? Adam: Yeah, but what has that got to do with free trade among consenting adults? Ken: Well, apparently ... Adam: You know, when we agreed to forming that government, we told Steve that the only justification that he would ever have to interfere with us would be if someone's individual rights were being violated. Ken: Yeah, I know, but ... Adam: "But" nothing! Are your rights being violated? Ken: No, but Steve says that, in the interest of the General Welfare, that if we are going to continue doing business with one another, then we will have to ... Adam: Ken, you listen to me closely. You go back and tell Steve that we will exercise our right to alter or abolish him! And all was well and merry from that day, forward. The government feared the people and not the other way around. ----------------- Footnote: Information on advances in farm machinery and the increasing productivity gained was adapted from: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfarm1.htm
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