The Parable of the Candlestick Makers

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, with newspapers going out of business, and with their worth plummeting, why are investors buying them?”

Josh spoke thus:

A candlestick maker was convincing candlestick makers to learn to make candlesticks.

“You all need to learn how to make candlesticks,” the candlestick maker told the candlestick makers.

“We know how to make candlesticks,” one of the candlestick makers told the candlestick maker, “We’re candlestick makers.  Making candlesticks is what we do.”

“You used to know how to make candlesticks,” the candlestick maker told the candlestick makers, “But you no longer know how to make candlesticks.”

“Of course we know how to make candlesticks,” another candlestick maker told the candlestick maker, “Making candlesticks is what we do.  We make candlesticks.”

“You used to make candlesticks,” the candlestick maker told the candlestick makers, “But you can’t make candlesticks anymore.”

“We make good candlesticks,” a different candlestick maker said, “We’ve made good candlesticks for years.”

“You did make good candlesticks,” the candlestick maker told the candlestick makers, “But you can’t sell good candlesticks anymore.”

“Should be make bad candlesticks?” a candlestick maker asked, “Should we be bad candlestick makers?”

“You should be better candlestick makers,” the candlestick maker told the candlestick makers, “You should make better candlesticks.  People won’t buy good candlesticks.”

“I thought the problem was that people won’t buy any candlesticks anymore,” a candlestick maker said, “People are lighting their houses with electric bulbs.”

“People are lighting their houses with electric bulbs,” the candlestick maker told the candlestick makers, “But people will still use candlesticks.  They’ll use them on cakes, they’ll use them on dinner tables, they’ll use them for setting a mood.”

“But we don’t make those candlesticks,” a candlestick maker said, “We don’t know how to make those candlesticks.”

“Which is why you need to learn to make candlesticks,” the candlestick maker told the candlestick makers, “People want candlesticks, if they’re the right candlesticks.”

“How do you know so much about candlesticks?” one of the candlestick makers asked the candlestick maker, “You’re not even a real candlestick maker.  You just bought a candlestick making company.  That doesn’t make you a candlestick maker.”

“And that doesn’t stop you all from being candlestick makers,” the candlestick maker told the candlestick makers, “Make good candlesticks, and people will buy good candlesticks.  You’re good candlestick makers.”

“Why are you doing this?” a candlestick maker asked the candlestick maker.

The candlestick maker replied, “Because I like good candlesticks.”