Hi,
Here is a story I wrote about the evils of taxes and how a "good" tax
can rip up a community. I hope you like it. If you want to pass it
around this is fine just do not change the story and keep the by
line. Thanks.
The River, The Baker and The Dam.
by
Allen Yoakum
Once there was a village in a valley were about 100 people
lived. Mostly adults with some children. These people were farmers
for the most part and they all lived by a river which was only about
five feet deep and six feet wide. The river was fed by a medium sized
lake to the north far from the village. The river and lake had many
fish and the people caught the fish in the river in the warmer parts
of the year.
The fish was a major part of the food they ate along with
corn, wheat and chicken. Milk came from goats and fruit from the
trees along the banks. All of these things depended on the river
which never flooded the people out. Life was good for the villagers.
In the village was a man who made bread for the village. He
and his wife would get up early in the morning and crush wheat with
two large stones. This man named Dan would roll the stone back and
forth over the wheat to make flour. Day in a day out the two made
bread and bartered it for services and items they needed. Everyone
enjoyed the bread, picking Dan over Bill who also made bread. Dan had
a problem, he only had a few loaves left to barter off each day. The
reason was that it took so long to crush the wheat.
Dan wanted to make more and had an idea to make flour by
using a paddle wheel on the river and gears which would push a stone
wheel around and do the work for him. It worked well and Dan was
success. He had enough loaves for every family and they were happy
for a while. As a result Dan became wealthy. He had goats, chickens,
and other things. Dan's home was large and well built and his
clothing suitable. After some time the people became mad that he
still made them give him things for the bread.
The people in the village asked him to give up taking things
and just give them the bread if they gave him the wheat. The reason
Dan was asked. "You're rich and some people need the bread." said the
people. Dan was understandably upset. He stood firm and would not
give up any bread for free. The reaction of the village was to impose
a tax on Dan of twenty loaves every day. The bread would go to the
poor people of the village. Dan tried to show the tax was wrong. The
village just thought he was being greedy and would not listen. The
chief came out every afternoon and collected the tax.
This cut into Dan's stock of loaves he could sell by a third.
Dan had less to sell so he raised the price and built a bigger paddle
wheel which covered half the river. The people got madder and they
all voted to raise the tax by thirty loaves a day. Dan, who could
make only one-hundred loaves and needed five for his family which had
grown to four people, now had only forty-five to barter so he again
raised the price. Yet another tax was imposed, this time up to
seventy-five loafs. Dan now had two mills which covered the whole
river. He also had to hire two men who were smart and learned to make
good bread quickly. This made Bill ,who was a poor baker, mad. Bill
forced Dan to hire him using the greed of the people who wanted more
bread. They figured if two bakers were working more bread could be
made. They took a vote and Bill won, Dan lost. Dan who needed to take
care of his family agreed and hired the man.
Soon Dan had to build two more mills due to a raise in the
tax to one-hundred and twenty-five loafs. Dan still took barter
raising his price giving the tax as his reasoning. Yet another tax to
one-hundred and fifty due to other people moving into the village for
the free food. Dan was at his wits end. He had no land to build yet
another mill and he was making only one-hundred and sixty loafs on a
good day thanks to Bill.
Dan needed more power so he came up with the idea of damming
the river and pushing the water into a smaller area which would give
more torque to turn a larger wheel which would make more flour. So he
sold some of his things to build the dam/mill while he had to pay the
tax. The people were happy to see Dan losing some of the things he
had taken from them and that he might be able to pay the high tax.
The village numbered one-hundred and seventy-five.
Dan built the dam knowing what it would do to the river, the
land and the village. He begged the village to lower the tax so he
could do business and live. The people figured he was lying to get
out of helping the needy one-hundred and fifty of the village. Dan
was in fact told to build the dam and pay one-hundred and seventy-
five loafs a day.
Dan built the dam and since he lived far from where the
others dwelt the flooding was ignored or not noticed. Soon the river
dried up near the village and the people had no fish. The farmers had
no water for the wheat, the goats or the trees along the river banks.
No water for drinking and no wine because the vines had died.
The people were as mad as hell, as Dan expected. They had a
meeting demanding Dan release the river. Dan said "Fine if they
lowered the tax." The people screamed he was lying so he could get
rich. Dan had had enough and left taking his family with him and most
of his possessions. Baker Bill, who was not to good at baking, took
over the mill and Dan's home. He tried to make good on the tax but
the best he did was half.
Soon harvest time came and all the plants were dead and most
of the animals. No wheat meant no bread but still the people yelled
for it. "For the needy!" Bill, the not so good baker, was in trouble
so he left as well. With no fish, fruits, wheat or animals to eat, or
water to drink within reach people got hungry. The village was in
trouble. They screamed it was Dan and Bills fault. They built the
dam/mill making the men walk far for fish and water. Taking away the
wheat so there would be no bread. "Needy people have needs!" they
yelled to the sky. The village was dead by winter.
Nobody thought to take the dam away to give them back the
fish, fruits or water for all to drink, animals included, or wheat
and corn for eating or making bread. No, taking the mill away would
mean no chance of imposing the tax ever again. No tax and the needy
starve. Maybe, but the village starved because of the tax. The moral
of the story: If you want money to flow and support the people you
have to release it by taking away the taxes on it.
The End.
