The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible - Bastiat Institute

Chapter 20
Bored of Digestion
Before he walked away, Jonathan asked for directions to the
town hall. Rose looked worried and placed a hand on his arm,
“Please, Jonathan, don’t tell anyone about the meals that we served
you. We don’t have a permit.”
“What?” said Jonathan. “You need a permit to serve meals?”
“In town, yes,” she replied. “And it can be quite a problem for us
if the authorities get word of our serving meals without a permit.”
“What’s the permit for?”
“It’s to guarantee a certain standard of food for all. Years ago,
townsfolk used to buy their food from street vendors, corner cafes,
fancy restaurants, or they would get food at stores and cook in their
own homes. Then the Council of Lords argued that it was unfair
that some people should eat better than others and that people had
to be protected from their own poor judgement. So they created
political cafeterias where everyone in town could eat standard food
for free.”
“Not exactly free, of course,” said Grandpa, pulling out his
wallet and waving it slowly in front of Jonathan’s nose. “The cost
of each meal is much more than ever before, but nobody pays at the
door. Uncle Samta paid with our taxes. Since meals at the political
cafeterias, or ‘politicafes,’ were already paid for, a lot of people
stopped going to private providers where they had to pay extra.
With fewer customers, the private restaurants raised prices to cover
expenses. Some survived with a handful of wealthy clients or with
people on special religious diets, but most went out of business.”
“Why would anyone pay for meals if they could go to politicafes
for free?” wondered Jonathan aloud.
Rose laughed. “Because the politicafes became awful – the
cooks, the food, the atmosphere – you name it! Bad cooks never
get fi red from politicafes. Their guild is too strong. And really good
cooks are seldom rewarded because the bad cooks get jealous.