Stone Soup Redux
link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup
There’s a classic old European fable about stone soup. Different cultures have their own iterations on the idea, but the essential story is as follows:
Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the very hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor.
The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient, like potatoes, onions, cabbages, peas, celery, tomatoes, sweetcorn, meat (like chicken, pork and beef ), milk, butter, salt and pepper. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travelers and villagers alike. Although the travelers have thus tricked the villagers into sharing their food with them, they have successfully transformed it into a tasty meal which they share with the donors.
The way the story is spun according to Wikipedia, it seems as if the tale is all about sharing. In fact, the story is more about the naivete of people once they are convinced of an idea, and the entrenchment of that idea once others confirm that view. It struck me that this is an apt parable for what’s been happening over the past 2 plus years in (mainly) western societies.
Recall that a ‘deadly virus’ had emerged which was a grave threat to civilization. A simple 2 week period of sequestering would resolve this; then four weeks, then masks; then vaccines for the elderly; then for kids, then travel restrictions; then job curtailment, then fines, etc etc etc. Lo and behold, the people are convinced that the figurative soup is wonderful.
We should all understand why history repeats, or at least rhymes, over periods of human history. People don’t change and the same formulas work over and over again. There will always be purveyors of stone soup, but sadly there are even more people willing to consume it. It’s too bad that the lessons of history can only be seen with clarity in hindsight.