Economic Just-So Stories

(from the Pendleton Book Blather Facbook group, circa 2014)

The capitalist dude:  Bob invents a toothbrush; everybody realizes or is told (by people with lots of resources that enables them to do that) that a toothbrush would be a great thing to have.  I (with all my nice property) build a factory to make Bob's toothbrushes, and...hmm...I have to give Bob something for the idea as well (dammit!).  Then I let everyone (since I have some resources to do that) who wants a toothbrush know I've got 'em.  I sell them as dearly as I can, trying to make sure that I cut out any competition that I can, so as to amass the maximum amount of personal resources for the next big thing.  Never know if another opportunity like THIS will over come again!

I am happy, at least.  I have lots more resources than I started with, which makes me important, and allows me to enjoy some luxuries that less important people can't have.  Bob may or may not be happy; people are using his invention, but he sees my luxuries and may realize that he didn't get as much as he might have out of the deal.  The purchasers of toothbrushes may or may not be happy, either.  Toothbrushes certainly make them healthier, but they have neighbors who are sick or even dying because I didn't want what they were able to give me for my toothbrushes.

[Nowhere, in any of this, is any decision made about whether the resources used for this enterprise might be better used somewhere else, or whether, indeed, if the value of these things matches the resources needed to acquire them.  Until my toothbrush factory has some competition, I could care less whether my toothbrushes are useful or if my new factory in Bum Fuck Egypt will use up all their water.  I don't care!  I have lots of stuff to keep me happy in any case.  If competition does manage to surface, I'll drop toothbrushes like a hot rock and take my toys home.  Maybe I can talk Bob into inventing something else people might want....]

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The anarchist dude:  I know Bob, who invented a toothbrush just for fun.  He gives me one and makes another for himself.  They are cool!  We feel so much healthier!  Other people like the idea, too, so Bob and I agree to make some more for them as well.  People are so much healthier and happier with their toothbrushes we give them that they don't at all mind letting us visit them at the farm for dinner, as long as we pitch in with the dishes.  Rumour of the improvement this invention makes in the lives of people spreads.

Several months later, another person (Fred) hears of a toothbrush, and would really, really like one.  Sheisse, how the hell will he get one?  Bob and I don't even know he wants one!  Bob and I have never heard of the dude!  Fred pulls up stakes, hops on public transportation, and visits Bob and I.  He hangs around long enough to learn how toothbrushes are made.  He notices that we are using way too much water to make them; in his home province, a very dry place, our process would be impossible to duplicate.  He helps us modify our manufacturing process to be much more water efficient.  He moves back home in a month or two, starts making them there.

I, Bob and Fred are all happy; Bob because he is gratified that his invention is useful, myself because I helped Bob and encouraged him, Fred because he able to give toothbrushes to his neighbors AND make them without destroying the water supply in his home district.  The farmer next door is happy, because his family is healthier and he is proud to feed and house the inventor and workers that make toothbrushes.

Lastly, the users of the toothbrushes are happy; they are healthier and the toothbrush cost them little or nothing.  Attentive neighbors notice that some people of fragile health may become sick if they don't have one, and they travel to Bob and I's area to help us make some for them.  No one who needs a toothbrush need go without one for long.

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