The Conclusion:
The native inhabitants of Shell Island were living under growing pressure. For generations they had lived quiet lives tending their coconut trees, weaving their straw hats, and perfecting their massage techniques. With the arrival of the Outsiders, however, things had changed…
The Outsiders had made it illegal for the Islanders to raise prices on their wares, but had continued to consume the island’s resources – all paid for with their counterfeit shells. Although it looked on the surface that the Outsiders were “paying” for the food and services they were using up, in fact the system had become one of implicit violence just below the surface. Given the choice the Islanders would no longer be accepting shells as payment; they recognized that they had no use for more shells on the island (in fact, they had gone quite out of fashion, even as adornments), and that because prices were fixed in a medium of which the Outsiders had in unlimited supply, the Outsiders had effective control over all of the resources of the island.
Food shortages were rampant. The coconut harvesters and hat makers were the hardest hit. The Outsiders had allowed the prices of massages to rise (although that decision seemed aimed more at keeping the Islanders off the tables, since the Outsiders were the only ones who could presently afford them, than rewarding the practitioners), which meant the Islanders from that industry were wealthy relative to their island cousins. There were fewer coconuts, and just to be able to afford them some Islanders had switched to the more lucrative massage business – but of course this meant even fewer coconuts produced on the island. The Islanders had to come up with novel ways to survive. Some tried to keep their produce off the market by hiding them at home; the big, ripe brown coconuts had all but disappeared from the shelves, leaving only the small green ones for sale. They had also decided to leave them in the trees and to insist that people climb up and pick them for themselves. But of course, these were just ways of raising the real price without raising the price on the tag. Unfortunately for the Islanders, they were only hurting those least able to afford it.
Those in the massage industry catering to the Outsiders were able to afford to eat, and of course the Security Forces, made up of the formerly exiled Islanders, were handsomely paid. And when these groups descended on the coconut shops they snapped up all of the available produce. The groups making the necessities of life on the island were suffering, yet those serving the Outsiders, and the Outsiders themselves, were living quite comfortably. When some Islanders decided to become self-sufficient and withdraw from all but household production, the island economy soured even more. Those Islanders were pressured at first to produce as their patriotic duty, but when that proved insufficient motivation they were threatened with the wrath of the Security Forces. Finally, some were found to have accumulated hoards of shells in case the prices rose again, and the Outsiders lost the last of their patience with the backward Islanders.
As a final solution to the problem of economic production and coordination under their forcibly imposed monetary regime, the Outsiders took a drastic step. They ordered the Security Force to enter each house and shop on the island to confiscate every shell. They then lined the Islanders up, assigned them each a number, tattooed it onto their wrist, and designated that a certain number of “credits” would be allotted to each Islander’s “account.” In this way the Outsiders would be able to control prices, end “hoarding,” and “guarantee that each Islander and Outsider was able to get what they deserve.” Truer words have never been spoken.
Now, with the stroke of a pen, the Outsiders are able to make any Islander wealthy – or destitute. All purchases and exchanges are logged and monitored to make certain that no Islander is living better than another of the same “class” (an Islander’s “class” being defined by what job he performed, with the Security Forces naturally on top, just below the Outsiders, or “Administrators” as they now prefer to be called). If an Islander is caught storing anything of value unaccounted for in the Administrative Ledger they are immediately confiscated and the Islander’s account reduced to a zero balance.
The Islanders were now truly free, they are told by the Outsiders. They no longer must compete with each other in dog-eat-dog competition, and they no longer have to spend their time trying to figure out what the best use of their efforts is. In fact, with the few hours of daylight left after their twelve-hour shifts, they can do most anything they want (as long as it costs nothing, or is an approved purchase, that is.)
The pliant Islanders, trusting and naïve to the end, feel like slaves. But slaves know that they are slaves, and are told so everyday. It’s not possible to be told that you are free, but to truly be a slave. Is it?
Theodore Phalan is an economics student at George Mason University and a previous Sound Money essay contest winner.
Image by dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
