Long years ago, there lived two farmers. The almost owned identical
sizes of land, before the first one, Dave, managed to use some muscle power to
acquire some extra land. The other farmer, Deepak, was contented with what he
had. Dave, the sharper among the two, always worked on ways to increase the
productivity of his land and multiply his belongings. Deepak cared least to
increase productivity of his farm, but instead emphasized on the fact that he
was being more ethical than Dave.
As they grew older, Dave
started hiring laborers from same village to work on his farm. But Deepak opted
to have many kids of his own, to work on farm, as he felt making others work on
his farm might impact the sanctity of his farm. Some even say, he had sixteen
children, while Dave had just two. Life went on these lines and it was the time
for next generation to take over.
Dave’s next generation had
it easy. Following their father’s footsteps, the two divided the original piece
as well the added land in equal proportion, and continued their trade of
farming. The situation was slightly different in Deepak’s case. Dividing the
land in sixteen parts was not a wise option, so some of the smarter children took
up managing others, while the less privileged ones had no choice but to sweat it out.
In generations to come, the
problems got more and more complicated in Deepak’s lineage. More people were
competing for decreasing amount of resources. There was chaos, and unfairness
in abundance. While for Dave’s lineage, resources were in plenty and the
people entitled to that were very few. Naturally each one had easy access to
resources.
This is exactly what separates
a developed country and a developing country. Less people competing for more
resources in one, while ironically, more people competing for less resources.
Addressing the problem of population explosion, along with modern approach to the society, would
add certainty for better life. Did you too draw the same conclusion?
