[basil ransome-davies]

The Shoemaker and the Elves

A shoemaker whose business plan had been ineptly formulated and under-capitalised found himself facing ruin. Stocks were run down as he defaulted on payment to his suppliers; finally he had enough leather for only one pair of shoes. Despairing, he drank himself to sleep. In the morning, he found a pair of shoes, new and complete, where the leather scraps had been, thanks to some benign elves whom he then recruited as his labour force. Alas, as his fortunes rose his boss-class greed and power-mania asserted themselves, forcing the elves to slave to generate surplus value. A work hierarchy was imposed, allowing the cobbler to divide and rule. But a growing dialectic of exploitation and discontent created a militant, unifying consciousness among the elves. Organised, they struck until the business was near-worthless again, when they took over and restructured it as a workers' co-operative.