Fishing

I ended my last post by saying that in today's climate it may not always be good to teach a man to fish.

But, really, I didn't get the analogy exactly right.

If you give a man a fish, you can feed him for a day, even if he doesn't know how, or doesn't have the resources to cook it, if the fish is fresh enough.

But if you teach him to fish:

You can teach a man to fish, but are you going to buy him a boat, pay for the fuel, and then pay for the liability insurance?

He may get arrested for not having a license.

To get a license he may have to bribe people, or all the licenses may already be taken by corporate entities.

You may be introducing him to fierce territorial competition, for which he is unprepared.

There may not be enough fish due to over-fishing and lax regulation.

The fish that are left may be a health risk due to the polluted water they live in.

Did you also teach him to swim, or are you putting his life in danger?

And don't think farming is any better.

Nothing is that simple any more.