Good Fences (a Parable)

A well-to-do man lived on a pleasant street and owned the nicest home on the block. Like many of his neighbors he had a fence around his yard, where he grew beautiful roses.

Neighbors were friendly, talking about the weather as they walked their dogs, chatting about gardens across fences.

A next-door neighbor had a small dog, which occasionally got under the fence and into the man's yard. The dog would pee on the man's roses, which greatly annoyed him. The roses flourished; in fact, a botanist friend across the street said the urea was quite good fertilizer. But the man pointed to a few brown leaves near the bottom of the bushes and insisted they were the dog's fault.

When the dog's owner refused to keep him chained to a post, the man started saying awful things about him and his dog. He started planning a wall to replace the fence between the houses. This would be expensive, and he considered it only fair that the owner of the pesky dog pay his share. The neighbor disagreed. The dispute escalated. The man decided his neighbor should pay the entire cost for an elaborate wall.

Other neighbors took sides and argued, but a majority thought the rich man was a bit unhinged. Some defended him, saying he was only bluffing about the wall. "He just wants to make a point," they said.

Eventually, the man tore down part of his neighbor's garage and used the materials on his wall to supplement the cost. Various neighbors were disgusted, and said so, often unkindly. Others (some who had earlier said he was bluffing) defended him. Some neighbors moved away.

Eventually, the wall was built and the payment dispute went to court. The dog had to go around the wall to get into the man's yard and did a couple of times. But in the shadow of the wall, it was no longer pleasant, and he lost interest.

The roses died.