A lighthearted look at the effect different political systems (and countries) have on the same situation – a tale of two cows.

SOCIALISM

You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM

You have 2 cows.
The state takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM

You have 2 cows.
The state takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM

You have 2 cows.
The state takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM

You have 2 cows.
The state takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk

away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM

You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (VENTURE) CAPITALISM

You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.

The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.

The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows.

No balance sheet provided with the release. The public then buys your bull.

SURREALISM

You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN COMPANY

You have two cows.
You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

A FRENCH COMPANY

You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE COMPANY

You have two cows.
You redesign them, so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called a Cowkimona and market it worldwide.

AN ITALIAN COMPANY

You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS COMPANY

You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE COMPANY

You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN COMPANY

You have two cows.
You worship them.

A SPANISH COMPANY

You have 2 cows but owe Santander for 6.
Nobody drinks milk.
You have a siesta and read about the collapse of the Euro

A GREEK COMPANY

You lease 2 cows and pay somebody 3 times the going rate to milk them using borrowed money. You refinance the 4 cows to secure the services of Goldman Sachs. They sell the future milk production of the 60 cows and fund your lifestyle. You retire to anywhere that doesn’t use the Euro.

A BRITISH COMPANY

You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI COMPANY

Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No one believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country.

You still have no cows, but at least you are now a democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN COMPANY

You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND COMPANY

You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

AN ARGENTINIAN COMPANY

You don’t have any cows.
But you claim sovereignty over the ones belonging to your neighbour.