CULTURAL EXCHANGES and A LESSON IN ECONOMICS

One day I was minding my own business with my bedroom door open when I started hearing dishes crashing on the pavement. I peeked out my window and what did I see?

Well... I saw a party with a bunch of kids breaking dishes on the pavement.

The thing is, it went on ALL EVENING. There were enough dishes for three touring companies of Beauty and the Beast.

I'm not sure what cultural tradition this was, and I'm not sure what the event actually was. I guess I'll never know...

A few weeks ago I made German pancakes for some German friends (and an Slovenian and American). Of course no one in Germany has ever heard of German pancakes.

Some call it Yorkshire pudding, which would probably be more apt since the actually know what this stuff is in Yorkshire.

Nevertheless, they turned out well and the Germans liked them (and the Slovenian, and the American)...

Then a month or so ago we had an American sort-of Dinner at Katherine's (who is American). We ate BBQ ribs and baked potatoes...

I had brought a bag full of candy bars and after dinner I taught everyone how to play the Candybar Game!


First we put all the candy bars out on the table. Katherine and Sven were eager to get their mits on a candy bar...

Some of these you might recognize, others are probably new. Notice the Wunderbar...

So I explained the rules...


...you begin with a selection of candy bars on the table, the dice go around to each player and if they roll 7, 11, or doubles, then they can choose one candy bar and hide it under a pillow...

...once all the candy bars are gone from the table, you set a timer and then if a player rolls 7, 11, or doubles, then he/she can ask a specific player for a specific candy bar. If that player does not currently have that specific candy bar, then the asker must give one of their candy bars to the other player...

When the timer goes off, the person with the most candy bars wins!

Hector was ready...

So we started the game. I performed poorly in the first few rounds...

We played a frenzied game with the Wunderbar, Toberlone, Sarroti Caramel, and the Raffaelo being some of the more popular bars of the evening.

Finally the timer went off and each player revealed their spread...

Here's where the lesson in economics comes in. There are basically two different ways to end the candy bar game...

The Capitalist Way: Each player keeps the candy bars he or she won. If one player has 4 candy bars and another zero, then that is just the luck of the game.

The Socialist Way: The extra candy bars of the winners are evenly and forceably distributed to those who have less. The winners still keep the candy bar of choice, but there is no possibility of a surplus.


How did we play?

The Capitalist Way of course! Because Capitalism is just better. Unfair you say? Hardly!

You see when you know that you could win big and keep your winnings it made the game all the more fun and exciting. Just like in life! With the possibility of great success or failure, the pursuit of success is all the more thrilling and its attainment is MEANINGFULL.

And for those who fail, for those who seemed to never catch a break and roll a 7, an 11, or a double, they did not go home candy bar-less. No! You see in a world where free markets, and free choice reign, the willful sharing and giving of the "haves" to the "have-nots" is made meaningful, purposeful, and specific for the needs of the needy, all in a true expression of charity, community, and brotherhood. Caring for the poor ceases to be a state-enforced punishment and robbery of the rich, and becomes instead a beautiful expression of love for one's neighbor.

Just as you cannot force someone to love, you cannot force someone to love to serve and give. This must be of one's own volition. If we truly want a better more "progressive" society then we cannot have a government that forces us to be charitable, that must be something that we choose to do on our own.

So did Hector end the evening with no candy or chocolate? Was he left to die in the streets? No! In fact not only did we all willfully share our candy with Hector, we ended up sharing all our candy with everyone!

I even got to taste a bit of the Wunderbar and it was... well... you know...

And so we enjoyed a communal sharing of our winnings rejoicing together in true love and fellowship that only comes from such voluntary giving and receiving.

Of course, I kept the Hello Kitty pop rocks for myself...

Now some of the sins that come from capitalistism are envy (like Adelaide above), and gluttony (like Katherine below)...

But it was a fun evening and a fun game.

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Now... it might be awhile before I can post a new blog entry. I am away on a thrilling adventure through eight or nine countries in a forgotten part of the world. So stay tuned...

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