Stone Soup

I thought last night of a story I read as a child. There's a hobo, traveling through a village. He stops at house after house, asking for a bit of supper, and at every house the inhabitants tell him they don't have enough for themselves, much less enough to share. Finally he stops in a field and builds a cooking fire. He sets up his cookpot and puts in water, a stone, and some salt and pepper he carries in his knapsack.
As his water boils, he hums a little song to himself. Soon a villager stops by, and asks what is in the pot? I thought you were without food, why did you ask me for supper when you had food all along? Well, says the hobo, this is stone soup. It's really good, but with a little extra it would be even better. The villager suggests that he has some potatoes he could add, he will run and fetch them. Soon other villagers stop by and each adds something to the pot. Eventually the stone soup becomes a lovely pot of soup, and there is enough for everyone.

This isn't to advocate socialism. Whatever my utopian ideals, I am practical enough to realize that the human race could not make socialism work. And I admit it, I have stuff I really like too! But in some areas, when the good of the individual also is the good of society, as it is in the matter of health care, it is past time for some sort of collective approach.