The Parable of the Water Tank by Edward Bellamy - 1897 - Just had to share this.

[Mnemosyne]

In 1897, Edward Bellamy published The Parable of the Water Tank, one of the most prophetic short stories of its time. This satirical assault on the perceived evils of capitalism exposes the devastating impact of corporate greed and attacks the dominant corporate miserliness which enslaves and immobilizes a people. Bellamy’s visionary onslaught came before the Great Depression, before the monopolization of industries, and before any real understanding of corporate power. Today, as globalization widens the chasm between excess and poverty, Bellamy’s stirring words ring through as a timeless and universal message to the world.

There was once a very dry land, called Root, where the lives of all the people were daily focused on their need to collect water. In Root, there were no lakes or rivers, but there were widely scattered oases, where stands of palm trees grew, surrounded by grass and flowers. In some of these oases there were springs where cool, fresh water would flow onto the surface, and collect into shallow ponds. Each day, the people of Root would walk to the nearest spring, often miles away, to collect the water that they would need for the day's drink, and cooking, and washing. Some days, the flow of water in the springs was low, and the people who came to collect water were many, so that some who walked to the spring had to return home with only a few sips for their spouses and children and their elderly parents.

Once, a man of Root went to an oasis to collect his daily water, but he found that day that no water poured forth from the spring. In desperate need, he considered that, since water usually flowed at this place, that it must come from a source under the ground. With this thought in mind, he took a shovel, and began to dig. After hours passed in his labors, he eventually reached an underground river, which had been the source of the spring. He lowered his bucket into the river that he had discovered, and drank deeply.

Many other people had come that day to the oasis, and most had returned home empty-handed. Some were still present when the digger reached water, and they ran over in delight, and attempted to fill their buckets. The man who had dug the well was angered, and beat them off with his shovel. “I have water because I alone dug this well!” he shouted. “Do you think that you can just come over and take what I have produced?”

One in the crowd called back: “We are poor and have little, but we must have water, or we will die. I have two pennies only, but I will give these to you for one bucket of water.” The man who had dug the well agreed, and offered the same exchange to all others. Those who had two pennies paid, and filled their buckets. Those who had no pennies returned home with their buckets empty.

more at link:

http://www.ricenpeas.com/docs/water%20parable.html

I read this early this a.m. and was stunned at how well he decribes capitalism and it's effect.

[fasttense]

1. They had company towns and trusts (monopolies or corporations). They had thousands

losing their fingers, hands and limbs in factories.

So many people lost their limbs due to unsafe factory conditions that one writer remarked after taking a stroll through a working class neighborhood that it looked like a war had just been fought.

So, conditions were pretty horrible back then too. They just called them different things.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[ThomWV]

2. The Parable is bullshit - the reason you ask? Because shovels were available to all.

A man may dig a hole and charge others for the water they can take out of it, but nothing stop them from digging their own hole somewhere in this "river" of water and taking his own water, and selling it too if he wants (cutting the first well diggers potential by half.

You see, that too is a requirement of capitalism, one that you seem to want to forget, that there is free entry and exit from markets, universal availability of resources. And you may say, yes, but people with money put up barricades to others entering the market. That's not a valid response because then you are talking about a different matter than capitalism, there you are talking about corruption in the market, and that is a much different thing.

Oh, the reason I call it "bullshit" is because thats a term I use for arguments that only present half of the facts you need to come to a reasonable conclusion.

[fasttense]

3. Since the initial capitalist got so rich, they could easily enough

send armies to prevent others from digging wells. This seems so obvious, that the author did not write it in. Corruption and capitalism go hand in hand without collectivism in the form of government regulation or other means.

Unrestrained, uncontrolled Capitalism eventually leads to monopolies, trusts, corporations, price fixing, supply squeezing and corruption. There must be controls put into place to prevent corruption.

And that is the whole point of the story. Corruption of capitalism is the eventual outcome without the controlling hand of "We the People".

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. "...universal availability of resources."

:rofl:
Stop. You're killing me.

[hootinholler]

8. I didn't get that far

Free Entry got me.

:rofl:

-Hoot

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. Even less far:

A man may dig a hole and charge others for the water they can take out of it...


It sounds like a Commandment, or sumthin'.

[OneGrassRoot]

9. I had to read that several times....

I thought I MUST be missing something or misinterpreting it.

I don't know how anyone can, with a straight face and clear conscience, promote the benefits of free market capitalism any more, specifically when comments include phrases like "universal availability of resources."

Surely this was satire?

:shrug:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. Alas, my sarcasm powers are diminishing.

:cry:

[OneGrassRoot]

17. I feel like I'm in Abbott and Costello's "Who's on first" skit...

I was referring to ThomWV's post, not yours, Rummy.

;)

:hi:

[WillyT]

6. You Might Want To Take A Gander At This...

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1735117

:shrug:

[ThomWV]

11. Dear sweet jesus, I thought the parable was bullshit, but that article is even worse

The thing that amazes me about the anti-capitalist crowd (who I see as nothing but Tea Baggers in a different disguise) is how disingenuous their arguments are. With out fail you all want to corrupt one argument by making another and changing its name.

If you want to talk about economic systems talk about economic systems. If you want to talk about how money has corrupted our economic system then talk about corruption. But do not talk about the failings of our economic system by saying they are systemic and then actually making the argument that it is not the system that failed but some small percentage of the players in it that have corrupted it. They are not the same thing.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. "free entry" explains all the competition against Wal-Mart, I guess, eh?

Ahhh yes....."the free market"....

[ThomWV]

12. There is not one thing on earth stopping you from opening a store to compete with Wal Mart

There are two Wal Marts in or immediately surrounding the closest town to where I live. In the same area there are several thousand other retail stores, many of which sell exactly the same products that Wal Mart does and they manage to stay in business. Nothing is stopping anyone who wants to from opening a store right next to the Wal Mart and if the new owner wants to sell stuff cheaper than Wal Mart he or she is more than welcome to - no body is stopping them.

[yarn_chick]

13. You mean aside from the fact that as a sole entrepreneur you have no access to the discounts

Walmart gets due to its size, and the fact that Walmart can and will undercut you by selling its product at a loss in order to put you out of business? Not to mention the fact that Walmart undercuts the community by not paying taxes to keep up the commons because it uses its size and clout to buy off politicians in order to get tax breaks you as the entrepreneur can't get. Of course if that wasn't enough Walmart and other multinational corporations lobby the government at all levels in order to put in regulations that it can easily afford to comply with but a smaller person starting out cannot while purchasing said politicians to make sure things that might actually help small business (not to mention workers) will not be enacted.

I count at least three things right there. Nothing stopping anyone from competing with Walmart? Only the fear of destitution and the ills that come with it.

Walmart is too big to function properly in our system and really ought to be broken up and spun off. But small business doesn't have nearly the clout of a Walmart so that'll never happen.

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. Exactly that happened when Wal-Mart expanded in our town.

One of the grocery stores went under soon after the expansion, leaving us with 2 large and one small grocery alternative.
The new expanded Wal-mart, according a glowing story in our local paper, was given tax "incentives" for 10 years into the future,
and was able to buy the land for the supercenter at reduced cost, the city picked up the highway and traffic light construction.
In contrast, any local stores have to have more than 15 employees, and have a very high sales volume in order to meet the first tier of any tax incentives.

We have 4 local hardware stores,the city just "welcomed" a hardware chain, Marvins, with much fanfare.
Our unemployment rate is 12%.

The city bribed...er...gave tax incentives for a Wal-greens last year.
Last month the Wal-greens bought out the local pharmacy's patient list ( illegally, the patients were not notified their medical records were being sold to Wal-greens until AFTER the sale).
Wal-greens charges 3 times what the local pharmacy was charging for the same script.

Ironically, Wal-mart charges much much less for the same script.

Our town no longer has any independent pharmacy and only one independent small grocery store.
Everything else is a chain.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

5. In this parable

how could he own the water? He provided better access only, the water was already there. Sounds like a greedy selfish bastard to me. :bounce: The crowd could have overwhelmed him and filled their buckets......

[tblue37]

10. And working people are numerous enough to overwhelm the corrupt capitalists and

their bought politicians--except that people don't do that, because it is so easy for the wealthy to pay 1/2 of the people to defend them against the other 1/2--whether at the ballot box or in the streets.

[eridani]

18. Per the Grateful Dead--

Let it be known
There is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of men.

Where does anyone get off claiming ownership rights of anything not made by the hands of men?