A Tale of Two Farmers

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?