The Troll Under the Bridge

As three travelers came up to a bridge, they heard rumbling underneath and from under the bridge a voice said:

"Halt, Wayfarers! I am the troll who owns this bridge, and only those who can solve my riddle will be allowed to use it to get across to the other side!"

"What is your riddle?" said the first man.

The troll paused for a moment which seemed like it was an hour, and then said:

"I'm thinking of 2 countries, we'll call them Country A and Country B. You must answer if at least one of them is capitalist after asking one question--though the question itself could have 2 parts to it." 

The first man stood up straight and asked if Country A or B was the USA, thinking that it must be true of the USA that it is a capitalist country.

The troll responded "Yes" and the man then said "Okay, at least one of them is capitalist!" and he started to try to cross the bridge.

"Hold on right there!" said the troll. "Just because it is the USA, does not mean it is capitalist. Go back on the path and find another way to cross over the ridge!"

The second man asked if one of the countries has private ownership of the means of production (the capital goods, such as factories and machines, which produce consumer goods). He had learned in his post-modern economics class that that is what "capitalism" means.

The troll responded "Yes" and the man then said "Okay, at least one of the countries is capitalist. Now, let me cross."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Wayfarer!" said the troll. "Just because private individuals own the machines and factories does not make a country capitalist! Private "ownership" exists under fascist regimes, even though private owners do not have full control over the use and disposal of the products they create."

The second man hung is head low, and turned around to follow the first man who had failed to solve the riddle. The third man then paused to think, finally saying:

"In at least one of the countries, is government expenditure less than 7% of GDP and does the entire code of all government regulations fit inside a law book that is less than 10,000 pages long?"

A long, silent pause ensued. There was some rumbling under the bridge. Finally, the troll said "You have solved my riddle! And you may therefore use this bridge to cross over to the other side. Also, if you can answer one more riddle, then I will let your 2 friends cross along with you."

The man confidently called his 2 friends back to the bridge and asked the troll what the riddle entailed. The troll said:

"What is it about capitalism which leads to such low government expenditure in relation to GDP, and to such a low amount of government regulation?"

The man explained that capitalism is the only social system which fully respects the inalienable, individual rights of all persons--such as the right to have full control over the use and disposal of any product that he or she creates. This full respect of rights always translates, in the real world, into comparatively low government expenditures, and comparatively low amounts of regulations.

"You may all now cross!" said the troll, with a big grin on his face.

The End

Attribution for the image at the top:

Tas50 [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McMurdo_Station_Antarctica_Bridge_Troll.JPG