The Ratchet
The Pudding Imagine you mow a lawn. The grass is cut. The homeowner is satisfied. The work is done. Now imagine someone tells you that because of market conditions, the lawn you mowed last Tuesday is only half-mowed now. That the effort you put in has been retroactively reduced. That the sweat on your shirt counts for less today than it did when you earned it. You would call that absurd. Work that has been completed does not un-complete itself. A meal you cooked was still cooked. A shed you built is still standing. A child you tutored still learned the lesson. Completed work is permanent. It exists in the world as a fact. ...