Why Government Matters
A parable about Squirrels (Part 2)
Previously on why Government Matters, it ended with the the difference between “Communism” (Read some sensible government) and Capitalism. The fat middle squirrels were becoming lazier. They still had to go on supervision walkabouts everyday.
So they asked the brilliant squirrel if he had a plan to help them increase their w̶a̶i̶s̶t̶ l̶i̶n̶e productivity. The brilliant blind squirrel immediately saw the flaw in their plan. It was impossible to increase output without increasing input. He tried to warn them about the flaw in their plan.
The fat middle squirrels were no fools. They thanked the brilliant squirrel for his advice and then return back to their territory.
The first fat middle squirrel became a l̶o̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶h̶a̶r̶k banker. It was easy. All the customer had to do was leave its children with him. Then if the blind squirrel wanted to redeem his kids, he had to bring more acorns.
The second fat middle squirrel started his stick carrying rental business. He got unemployed blind squirrels to gather acorns while renting out sticks. He then hired a few chipmunks to drive away other blind squirrels who did not carry his stick. All the chipmunk needed to do was to keep yelling until the other competitors were driven out.
I would not bore the reader with the other schemes but they all had a common theme. The middle squirrels became fatter. While the situation was difficult, it was still bearable in summer.
Viewer warning: Stuff is about to get real.
When autumn came, things became dire for the blind working squirrels. They could find less food but the stick rental or the acorn interest remain the same. They pleaded for discounts. The fat middle squirrels just complained that the working squirrels were not hungry enough. How the middle squirrels “worked” round the clock in their days. How every squirrel could be successful if only he worked harder.
Winter came. There was no food to be found. The hungry blind squirrels went to the bank for a loan. They found the bank closed. The Banker was trying this new diet called hibernation. He could not be found. They then looked for the stick carrying rental business. To their horror, it was also closed. The fat middle squirrel had decided to secretly move his operations to a place without winter.
The blind squirrels were now in a panic mode. Most of them did not have any surplus acorns. Some even had baby squirrels to feed. Even the chipmunks who were dependent on the stick carrying franchiser had a food problem. There was much tail flagging and running in circles.
This is where the second part of my story must end. This is the problem about free markets without government oversight. The people who are aware of the risk will try to exploit the common folks. I am fully aware of the term caveat emptor. We still need to have regulations because those laws are often written with the blood of others.
This story is inspired by the recent incidents in Texas. There was a snow storm in Texas which resulted in the power grid failing. The Texan leaders showed their true colours. We had a Texan city mayor who wrote to his constituent “only the strong will survive and the weak will parish [sic].”
The current Texan governor who blamed the issue on “frozen wind turbines” but conveniently left out natural gas that a five time greater fall in power. The former Texan governor who is blaming the failure of renewable power on a New York member of Congress. The New York member of Congress who is currently raising millions for Texans. The Texas Senator who had to be shamed as he was flew for vacation in a sunny place while his constituents were freezing.
Moral:
What is stopping from any business from closing down and then leaving the stakeholders to clean up the mess? I agree that as long as there are available and suitable substitutes, businesses closing will not cause irreparable damages. Eating places open and close all the time. We can look for other dining options. But in the case of essential services like water, what are the options? Dig a well? Find a spring? Start collecting rain water?