(Originally an oral story told on a camping trip. This is not a transcript, but follows the oral version very closely.)
There was rich man who had two sons, a wise one and a foolish one. One day, the foolish son told his father, “Give me all my inheritance now, and that of my children and grandchildren as well”. The father thought about this for a while, then called both sons and said to them, “All your inheritence, and the inheritance of your children for all generations, has always been yours.” So the two sons went out into the world to make lives for themselves.
The wise son built his house on a rock. He planned it to last 1000 years, so he made it out of diamond. He aligned it with the movement of the sun and the seasons; it was warm in Winter and cool in Summer. He planted a garden and trees around his house, such that any time of the year he could step out and find the food he needed. He built cisterns and catchments to collect water from the sky and store it for himself and his plants. All this work was difficult and took a long time to complete, but when it was done he had a comfortable life. He had only a few children, exactly enough to fill his house.
The foolish son built his house on the sand. Well, he didn’t actually build it. Instead, he got one of those inflatable buildings. An electric fan kept the building full of air, a gas generator provided electricity to the fan, and he had the most ginormous tank of gas you’ve ever seen. He did not plant his food. Instead, he ordered delivery pizza every night. He learned that if he took water from the ground instead of the sky, he did not have to wait, and could have as much as he wanted. He drilled deep holes into the ground, and used gas-powered pumps to bring up the water. Because it was so easy to make new buildings, and food and water were plentiful, he had many many children and grandchildren, a very large family.
His family liked to party a lot. They had all the latest gadgets: big screen TVs, video games, and cell-phones that play music and browse the internet. One night while they were partying, a hand appeared in the room and wrote on the wall. The foolish son could not read the message, so he called the wise son: “Brother, come help me understand the hand-writing on the wall”. The wise son came and looked at the writing, but he did not understand it either. Then they deployed an enormous computer, and ran many complicated calculations. Finally, the interpretation became clear. “Brother,” said the wise son, “there will be 7 years of plenty, followed by 70 years of famine. Therefore, I advise you to manage your resources wisely. Store up during the time of plenty, so that when the famine comes you and your family will survive.” Then the wise son returned home.
The foolish son sat and thought to himself, “I have many children. Even if I save everything for the next 7 years, it can’t possibly feed them all for the next 70.” In despair, he decided to continue partying to the end.
Dear reader, what happens next is in your hands.