Economist at
It was a cold December day
At story-telling time.
Old Kaspar chose a fresh cigar
and poured a rum-and-lime,
While Peterkin and Wilhelmine
Warmed up the television screen.
They saw a mob of cheering men
Upon an empty quay,
Who stood with happy faces turned
Toward the open sea,
Where rusty freighters, one by one,
Appeared against the setting sun.
“Now tell us what it’s all about!”
The little children cried.
“It’s Christmas Eve in
Old Kaspar soon replied;
“Those cheering men are feeling gay,
For they’ll have coal on Christmas Day.”
“Those rusty ships,” said Kaspar then,
“Are full of Yankee coal;
They’ve sailed for days across the sea
And now they’ve reached their goal,
Where English mothers wait and pray
For coal to burn on Christmas Day. “
“But doesn’t
Asked little Peterkin.
“There’s lots of coal in English mines,”
Said Kaspar with a grin;
“But mining coal is slow and late
Where folks have got a Welfare State.”
“A Welfare State,” Old Kaspar said,
“Means Equal Shares for all—
For all the lazy, sick, or weak,
Or strong, or short, or tall;
It means for each an equal share
Of labor, feather beds, and hair.”
“Since miners work just twice as hard
As other people do,
The Planners set each miner’s share
At one day’s work in two.
So that’s why folks in Welfare States
Have feather beds, but empty grates.”
