The Parable of the Farmer and the Tractor Salesman

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, when a city closes schools because it has a fiscal shortage, isn’t the city guaranteeing that there will be a shortage of educated labor, resulting in a shortage of skilled workers to fill skilled positions, and therefore a shortage of business in the city, and inevitably a shortage in tax revenue in the future, resulting in a shortage of money for schools?  Isn’t this short-term fiscal savings the beginning of a long-term spiral of fiscal suicide?”

Josh spoke thus:

A farmer was looking at a tractor.

The farmer said, “I need a tractor.” 

The salesman said, “This is a fine tractor.” 

The farmer said, “If I don’t buy a tractor, I can’t plow my field.”

The salesman said, “If you’re going to plow a field, this is a fine tractor for plowing a field.”

The farmer said, “If I don’t plow my field, I won’t be able to plant any seed.”

The salesman said, “If you’re going to plow a field so that you can plant seed, this is a fine tractor for plowing a field before you plant your seed.”

The farmer said, “If I don’t plant any seed, I can’t grow a crop.”

The salesman said, “If you want to plow a field so that you can plant seed, so that you can grow a crop, this is a fine tractor for plowing a field before you plant your seed so you can grow a crop.”

The farmer said, “If I don’t grow a crop, I won’t have anything to harvest come harvest time.”

The salesman said, “If you want to plow a field so that you can plant seed, so that you can grow a crop, so that you’ll have something to harvest at harvest time, this is a fine tractor for plowing a field before you plant your seed so you can grow a crop, so you’ll have something to harvest at harvest time.”

The farmer said, “If I don’t harvest a crop, I won’t have anything to sell at market.”

The salesman said, “If you want to plow a field so that you can plant seed, so that you can grow a crop, so that you have something to harvest at harvest time, so that you can sell something at market, this is a fine tractor for plowing a field so that you can plant seed, so that you can grow a crop, so that you'll have something to harvest at harvest time, so that you can sell something at market.”

The farmer said, “If I don’t sell anything at market, I won’t have any money to buy a tractor.”

The salesman said, “If you want ... wait a minute: you don’t have a tractor, so you haven’t plowed your field, so you haven't planted any seed, so you haven’t had a crop to harvest at harvest time, so you haven’t had anything to sell at market, which means you don’t have any money.  If you don’t have any money, how are you going to buy a tractor?”

The farmer replied, “This is the life of a farmer.”