The cows are a (bad) metaphor for the means of production, obviously. The metaphor sneakily puts you in the shoes of a capitalist and, whoa, it turns out capitalism is good when you are one of the few it benefits.

I can't believe I was once taught this bullshit in school.

  • 666PeaceKeepaGirl [any, she/her]
    ·
    4 years ago

    It also distorts perceptions of inequality by implying that just two cows makes you a rich person who stands to lose under socialism. A more apt metaphor would be

    CAPITALISM: You own 10,000 cows. You sell 5,000 cows and buy 5,000 bulls. A local political party wants to redistribute 100 of your remaining cows among the 3000 other inhabitants of your town, most of whom have zero cows. You can buy off the local politicians for the price of 5 cows.

    • Marsala [they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Nah its a great metaphor. Rich people own cows (the means of production) poor people get some milk (if any)