In an area near Bombay...
Illustration
In an area near Bombay there were seven farmers. Each tilled an equal amount of land. They irrigated the land with water, from 20 or 30 wells, and drawn by hand in leather buckets. The process was painfully slow. What was taken out of the ground was easily replenished by the annual monsoon.
The land of one farmer, though equal in size to each of the six others, had richer soil and produced a more abundant crop. The value of his crop was about 20% of the value of the total crop of the seven. He prospered every year and was able to sell his surplus and save money. After several years the farmer learned that he could afford a pump. He boarded a bus to Bombay, returning a few days later with a diesel pump. It was so efficient the well could not recharge as fast as the water was pumped out. He dug a deeper well. It recharged adequately, except that when the monsoons came that year, they did not restore the water table to its normal level.
Within two years the wells of the other farmers were dry. They were not able to dig them deep enough to efficiently draw water from them by hand. Their crops failed. With no food for themselves they were forced to seek help from the owner of the pump. He did not share water with them, but he did sell them food, till they had no money at all. And when they had no money they gave him their land in exchange for food. When their land ran out, they had nowhere else to go but to join the wretched ranks of the homeless, sleeping on the streets of Bombay.
--Bond
The land of one farmer, though equal in size to each of the six others, had richer soil and produced a more abundant crop. The value of his crop was about 20% of the value of the total crop of the seven. He prospered every year and was able to sell his surplus and save money. After several years the farmer learned that he could afford a pump. He boarded a bus to Bombay, returning a few days later with a diesel pump. It was so efficient the well could not recharge as fast as the water was pumped out. He dug a deeper well. It recharged adequately, except that when the monsoons came that year, they did not restore the water table to its normal level.
Within two years the wells of the other farmers were dry. They were not able to dig them deep enough to efficiently draw water from them by hand. Their crops failed. With no food for themselves they were forced to seek help from the owner of the pump. He did not share water with them, but he did sell them food, till they had no money at all. And when they had no money they gave him their land in exchange for food. When their land ran out, they had nowhere else to go but to join the wretched ranks of the homeless, sleeping on the streets of Bombay.
--Bond
