Economics 101
When I was a girl, maybe in second or third grade,
my dad taught me econ. 101 by handing me 2 cookies
and telling me to divide them among the 8 people
at the dinner table. You can't break them in half,
and besides, no one wants to eat your crumbs.
I wanted to be fair, so I couldn't decide what to do.
Hard, he said, yes? So now let's imagine that's all
the food you have. Or a metaphor for all you own.
Are you going to share? Are you going to be an idiot
like those Christian saints, and do as the Gospel of Matthew
suggests: not worry about food or drink or clothing
and assume God will provide . . . That he will clothe you
like the lilies of the field? That Jesus will come
with his loaves and fishes? He will turn water into wine?
Of course not, he smirked. If you have any smarts
at all, my girl, you will hide those cookies, and just pretend
you are as hungry as everyone else. So that no one will
steal them from you. No one will envy you or worse.
There's a Hassidic saying I love: put your head before your heart,
you'll be a king. Put your heart before your head, you're a fool.
The Jews were smart. And rich too. The mistake they made
was not to hide these facts. And you see what happened to them.
-- Nin Andrews
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