Bees Throughout this summer, dull rain fell On strangely  blighted chestnut trees. Banks have collapsed, and I have pondered Mandeville's 'Fable of the Bees'. Mandeville saw selfishness Impel each member of the hive. None thought about the common good, And yet the common good would thrive. The system works; no bee need be More saintly than bees care to be. If each pursues his selfish goal, The hive will buzz efficiently. *** Yet now I read of colonies Collapsing, and deserted hives, And fruit unpollinated. Our Precarious lives From one strange crisis lurch towards the next. We live in sub-prime times. What caused all this entanglement? Incompetence? Mischance? Crimes? And what will help to get us free? Well, probably not rhymes. George Simmers

Bernard Mandeville (1670 – 1733) was a philosopher who questioned the moralistic tradition of political thought. His fable showed a virtuous society falling into apathy and paralysis, whereas vices and greed led to a dynamic society full of fruitful interaction. Private vices, he argued, produce public benefits.

If you have any comments on this poem,  George Simmers would be pleased to hear them.