The Empty Well
They do not sow. They do not reap.
The town has a deep, clear well.
It's all they've ever known, the source of their water for life, land, and living.
One day, a man arrives.
"This well is incredible! If you share this with the world, you could be so much better off!"
The people want better.
They ask him how.
"If you pay me to build it, I can make this well into something that will make you all healthy, wealthy, and at ease!"
So they gather all the money they have, and pay the man.
He builds an extraction machine that caps the well, and captures the water.
He sells the water outside the village, and starts building things.
Houses, and stores, and a circus... everything that looks like success.
Success! Growth! Prosperity!
The villagers buy the homes, shop in the stores, and are entertained.
One day, the store is closed.
But that’s okay, we can go to the circus anyway.
The next day, the house is cold.
The store still isn’t open.
But there’s a fight at the arena, and we’re going.
Then someone whispers, “I’m thirsty.”
Where is the water?
The man built pumps, pipes, and grand machines.
He drew more water than ever before, selling it far and wide.
Even selling the future of the water the well would deliver.
He sold it.
And built all the things with the money he took from the water he sold, from the well they paid him to build—to take the water.
And then he sold those things too.
It felt like prosperity.
For a while.
A few people were curious, and went to look at the quiet pumps, the silent pipes.
They went to the well, smashed the lock, and opened the lid.
It was too dark to see.
Someone dropped a small pebble.
There was quiet.
Not even the sound of the falling.
Then a small, almost imperceptible tink as the stone hit the dry dirt floor.
They look around at the darkened buildings, the empty streets, and the cracked earth.
He got them to pay for their own destruction.
They got you to pay for your own destruction.
They do not sow. They do not reap.
They take the land and the water itself.
Stop paying for them to take your future.