petri dish economics

when we first came together, there was plenty,

the dish was full of food, so we ate our fill

but as time went on, we outgrew our little dish

and problems arose

how do we arrange ourselves,

what should we do?

Some thought we could invent our way out of it,

become more ‘productive’

But there was only one dish, maybe we should eat less,

live simpler lives.

The techno-bacteria won out, initially creating huge spikes of productivity

but there was only one dish…

So we developed war, and other ways to take parts of the dish,

complex politics emerged, to decide who would rule over the districts

But throughout all these wars, we all knew what was coming,

further austerity measures. Specialty bacteria controlled production,

and wars became as normal as our early joy.

I mean, fair enough, there was only one dish.