The Martian Capital

At the Martian capital, I was introduced to the Great One and his court jesters. Unlike the starving Martians I had seen the day before; they were not only well-fed but grossly fat from constantly gorging themselves on the food collected from the farmers.

“O Great One,” said Marvin, “This traveler from the third planet is marooned here and needs help getting back home.”

“Sorry,” replied the Great One, “But we can’t take you home but the Venusians can and I will ask them to help you.

“Who are the Venusians?” I asked.

“The Venusians are from Venus,” replied the Great One, “They regularly send ships with the food we borrow from them and they take back our interest payments from the food we collect from the farmers.”

“What do you do with this food?” I asked.

“We eat it,” said the Great One.

As I listened it became clear that the appetites of the Great One and his court jesters were so insatiable that the food they collected from the farmers was not enough to satisfy their hunger. So they borrowed ever-increasing amounts of food from the Venusians. They then in turn need to devote an ever-increasing portion of what they collected from the farmers to pay the interest.

“Great One,” I asked, “Don’t you realize that this is unsustainable? If you guys don’t stop eating so much you will reach the point you can’t collect enough food to pay the interest.”

“How dear you suggest we eat less,” declared the Great One, “We’re still hungry. Guard! Take him to the spaceport so he can get a ride from the Venusians.”