chateaux
15-03-2009, 12:47 PM
A farmer with a growing number of chickens and roosters lived happily ever after... or so he thought until a clever fox came to visit him.
The farmer was a chicken farmer and loved his chickens very much and looked after them very well. They roamed around his farm freely and produced enough eggs to feed him and his son and wife and to keep the farm in balance. He would trade with his neighbours for other food and services and the community as a whole lived in harmony.
But one day a clever person arrived in the community and suggested they use a form of numbers to keep track of the labour each member of the community was producing. After all a hard working farmer MUST add more labour than the school teacher or a priest and was surely more equal in the community? The community although happy with their system thought they would give it a go and perhaps this would solve some disputes. The clever person suggested a thing called money that would track the labour and allow members to trade with each other using it. This would allow members of the community to track their value and give them more benefits if they provided more labour than others. The clever person suggested a thing called a bank that would manage the labour between the members of the community and represented by this money. The clever person would cover HIS labour costs by charging a thing called interest on every unit of money borrowed until it was paid back. This seemed fair enough to the community.
So the clever man from the bank visited the farmer and pointed out that the neighbouring farmer had been losing sheep to foxes and that perhaps the farmer should built a barn to protect his chickens, like the neighbour had done. The farmer who loved his chickens very much had to agree that if their where MURDEROUS foxes about that the chickens should be protected.
So he borrowed this thing that represented labour and called money from the clever person from the bank and built a barn. It was great! In the past he would have given eggs to the labourers for a year for building his barn but now he could keep his eggs and give them this thing called money that he had borrowed from the bank. He told the chickens about the foxes and that they MUST move in for the safety of their chicks and eggs. After all the FOXES had attacked the neighbouring farms sheep! The chickens had never met a fox before and Mr Fox sounded quite nasty so they moved into the barn for their safety. The barn was cramped but they made do. And it was not long (in chicken terms) that a new generation of chickens where living in the barn; and this was all they knew. They were happy.
Then one day the clever person from the bank returned and told the farmer that foxes had been breaking into the neighbouring chicken farms barn MURDERING sheep and that great damage had been done to the farm. The clever bank person advised that if he were to build exclusive coops for each chicken they could be kept in safety from the foxes. So the farmer borrowed money from the bank again and built exclusive cages for each chicken. He employed a TEAM of workers from the village and again he was able to keep his eggs and pay with the borrowed money. He told the chickens that the cages where their exclusive domain and their safety from MURDEROUS foxes.
The chickens quite liked their exclusive domains and it was fun to point out their coops! They looked after them well and if you where a chicken you would have felt the growing pride in the chicken community. Soon a new generation of chickens lived in these exclusive and SAFE cages.
Then one day a new clever person from the bank came to see the farmer about his loans. The bank was employing more staff and moving into a more luxurious building and the first clever person had just taken over the neighbouring sheep farm as his debts had not been paid... and interest rates had to be raised to help cover their new burdens. But the new clever person from the bank had a plan and suggested to the farmer that he borrow more money and organise his chickens into bigger and more advanced barns and to feed them with special feed and water which would help improve output and thus the farmers ability to pay off the growing monthly debts. And he suggested that the chickens be kept in their cages since the neighbouring farm had had FOXES breaking into their barns and MURDERING and killing and maiming the sheep.
So the farmer borrowed more money and built more barns with cages with locks and funnels to transport feed to each cage and shoots to transport the eggs to a holding area and a special water supply to provide special water with the correct mix of nutrients to keep the chickens docile and complacent. He employed labour to help on a permanent basis. A hundred men and women from the village helped him build the new barns and cages and again he did not have to part with eggs, only money. The chickens where told that this was for their safety from MURDEROUS foxes. And while the chickens where suspicious they were fearful of their safety and so accepted their cages. And soon a new generation of chickens where living in the cages and this was all they knew.
Things seemed to look good for the farmer; he was just managing to cover his debts with just enough to stay alive. He could barely make improvements though for the force of the loans he had to pay off but he did his best for his chickens. His employees were under paid and disgruntled and they took their frustration out on the chickens. The chickens who had only heard rumours about FOXES thought that these employees where FOXES and they were glad that they were in their cages.
Then one day the new clever person from the bank came to visit and told the Farmer that interest rates were being raised again. More farms had not paid their debts and the bank had had to take these farms over to recoup their losses and this had effected the bank so they had to raise the interest rates to help cover their costs. The new clever person from the bank said that the farmer was going to need to improve production and this was going to take a serious amount of money to achieve. But the new clever person form the bank had a plan – he suggested that if the farmer where to take record of every chicken and rooster on the farm and of every new chicken – the bank would loan 100 credits based on that chickens future output. In return for this loan the bank would hold ownership of the certificate until such time the loan was paid off. The farmer with very little choice decided to comply and signed over all of his chickens and future chickens to the bank.
With the money produced from the certificates the farmer was just able to cover his massive interest re-payments but he discovered that his chickens died too soon and he was never quite able to pay off their individual debts and so this had to be passed onto the next generation and then the next... Soon the loans from the current chick certificates where being paid by 3 generations down the line... which meant he would never pay the debts off.
Depressed the Farmer hung himself and thus his son took over. The son did not know any better than the momentous system in place nor could he remember how it had been when members of the community would trade with each other based on respect and honour. So he ran the farm as best as he could.
Then one day the new clever person from the bank arrived and told the new farmer that the bank was in trouble and that they needed to collect their loan. The new farmer looked in his accounts and saw that he had no money... so he handed the bank the keys to their new farm and went to live in a shanty town with the rest of the community. But the bank took pity on him and said they would give him a job on his old farm and would pay him just enough for him to feed himself and his family. He was grateful.
And every day while cleaning out the cages he would look at the curious sight of chickens looking out at him from within their coops.
How happy they seemed and how glad he was that he was free.
The farmer was a chicken farmer and loved his chickens very much and looked after them very well. They roamed around his farm freely and produced enough eggs to feed him and his son and wife and to keep the farm in balance. He would trade with his neighbours for other food and services and the community as a whole lived in harmony.
But one day a clever person arrived in the community and suggested they use a form of numbers to keep track of the labour each member of the community was producing. After all a hard working farmer MUST add more labour than the school teacher or a priest and was surely more equal in the community? The community although happy with their system thought they would give it a go and perhaps this would solve some disputes. The clever person suggested a thing called money that would track the labour and allow members to trade with each other using it. This would allow members of the community to track their value and give them more benefits if they provided more labour than others. The clever person suggested a thing called a bank that would manage the labour between the members of the community and represented by this money. The clever person would cover HIS labour costs by charging a thing called interest on every unit of money borrowed until it was paid back. This seemed fair enough to the community.
So the clever man from the bank visited the farmer and pointed out that the neighbouring farmer had been losing sheep to foxes and that perhaps the farmer should built a barn to protect his chickens, like the neighbour had done. The farmer who loved his chickens very much had to agree that if their where MURDEROUS foxes about that the chickens should be protected.
So he borrowed this thing that represented labour and called money from the clever person from the bank and built a barn. It was great! In the past he would have given eggs to the labourers for a year for building his barn but now he could keep his eggs and give them this thing called money that he had borrowed from the bank. He told the chickens about the foxes and that they MUST move in for the safety of their chicks and eggs. After all the FOXES had attacked the neighbouring farms sheep! The chickens had never met a fox before and Mr Fox sounded quite nasty so they moved into the barn for their safety. The barn was cramped but they made do. And it was not long (in chicken terms) that a new generation of chickens where living in the barn; and this was all they knew. They were happy.
Then one day the clever person from the bank returned and told the farmer that foxes had been breaking into the neighbouring chicken farms barn MURDERING sheep and that great damage had been done to the farm. The clever bank person advised that if he were to build exclusive coops for each chicken they could be kept in safety from the foxes. So the farmer borrowed money from the bank again and built exclusive cages for each chicken. He employed a TEAM of workers from the village and again he was able to keep his eggs and pay with the borrowed money. He told the chickens that the cages where their exclusive domain and their safety from MURDEROUS foxes.
The chickens quite liked their exclusive domains and it was fun to point out their coops! They looked after them well and if you where a chicken you would have felt the growing pride in the chicken community. Soon a new generation of chickens lived in these exclusive and SAFE cages.
Then one day a new clever person from the bank came to see the farmer about his loans. The bank was employing more staff and moving into a more luxurious building and the first clever person had just taken over the neighbouring sheep farm as his debts had not been paid... and interest rates had to be raised to help cover their new burdens. But the new clever person from the bank had a plan and suggested to the farmer that he borrow more money and organise his chickens into bigger and more advanced barns and to feed them with special feed and water which would help improve output and thus the farmers ability to pay off the growing monthly debts. And he suggested that the chickens be kept in their cages since the neighbouring farm had had FOXES breaking into their barns and MURDERING and killing and maiming the sheep.
So the farmer borrowed more money and built more barns with cages with locks and funnels to transport feed to each cage and shoots to transport the eggs to a holding area and a special water supply to provide special water with the correct mix of nutrients to keep the chickens docile and complacent. He employed labour to help on a permanent basis. A hundred men and women from the village helped him build the new barns and cages and again he did not have to part with eggs, only money. The chickens where told that this was for their safety from MURDEROUS foxes. And while the chickens where suspicious they were fearful of their safety and so accepted their cages. And soon a new generation of chickens where living in the cages and this was all they knew.
Things seemed to look good for the farmer; he was just managing to cover his debts with just enough to stay alive. He could barely make improvements though for the force of the loans he had to pay off but he did his best for his chickens. His employees were under paid and disgruntled and they took their frustration out on the chickens. The chickens who had only heard rumours about FOXES thought that these employees where FOXES and they were glad that they were in their cages.
Then one day the new clever person from the bank came to visit and told the Farmer that interest rates were being raised again. More farms had not paid their debts and the bank had had to take these farms over to recoup their losses and this had effected the bank so they had to raise the interest rates to help cover their costs. The new clever person from the bank said that the farmer was going to need to improve production and this was going to take a serious amount of money to achieve. But the new clever person form the bank had a plan – he suggested that if the farmer where to take record of every chicken and rooster on the farm and of every new chicken – the bank would loan 100 credits based on that chickens future output. In return for this loan the bank would hold ownership of the certificate until such time the loan was paid off. The farmer with very little choice decided to comply and signed over all of his chickens and future chickens to the bank.
With the money produced from the certificates the farmer was just able to cover his massive interest re-payments but he discovered that his chickens died too soon and he was never quite able to pay off their individual debts and so this had to be passed onto the next generation and then the next... Soon the loans from the current chick certificates where being paid by 3 generations down the line... which meant he would never pay the debts off.
Depressed the Farmer hung himself and thus his son took over. The son did not know any better than the momentous system in place nor could he remember how it had been when members of the community would trade with each other based on respect and honour. So he ran the farm as best as he could.
Then one day the new clever person from the bank arrived and told the new farmer that the bank was in trouble and that they needed to collect their loan. The new farmer looked in his accounts and saw that he had no money... so he handed the bank the keys to their new farm and went to live in a shanty town with the rest of the community. But the bank took pity on him and said they would give him a job on his old farm and would pay him just enough for him to feed himself and his family. He was grateful.
And every day while cleaning out the cages he would look at the curious sight of chickens looking out at him from within their coops.
How happy they seemed and how glad he was that he was free.