Praxeology

Economic Literacyfor Children

The top of a green hill above the sea. Seven friends stand smiling in front of a hut made of wooden poles with a roof of palm leaves. Tiko, with a top knot and a short beard, rests his hand on a pole of his hut. Next to him, Kai, with a sky-blue headband and a sky-blue sleeveless shirt, holds up a piece of carved bone. Then come Lani, Malu, Friday and Robinson. Zachary, the green parrot with the red head, sits on the roof. In the grass there is a row of white stones.
Ages 6–9

Picture book

Robinson’s Island · Book 4

Whose Hut Is It?

The sequel to “The Pink Shells”

The characters

  • Robinson, a sailor who lives on an island and fishes with his net
  • Friday, a brave sailor and the best climber on the island
  • Zachary, the chatty green parrot with the red head
  • Tiko, who builds boats, paddles and now a hut
  • Malu, who makes clay jugs, and her daughter Lani, who weaves mats
  • Kai, a young man who carves fish hooks from bone

Tiko built his hut on the hill with his own hands. One evening he comes home and finds somebody else asleep inside! “It was empty, so now it’s mine!” says Kai. So whose hut is it?

Remember the pink shells? At the end of the last story, Tiko said he would build his own hut up on the hill. This is the story of that hut. It’s made up, but this is roughly how people work out what is “mine” and what is “yours”.

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The top of a hill above the beach. Tiko stands on a little wooden stool, tying palm leaves onto the roof of an almost finished hut. Beside the hut there is a pile of uprooted bushes and poles. Lani, in a lilac dress and braids, smiles as she hands him a rolled-up mat, with pink shells shining on top of it. Zachary sits on the roof.

The next morning

A hut on the hill

Remember what Tiko said at the moonlit party? The very next morning, he climbs the hill above the beach. Nobody has ever built anything up there. The hill is covered in thorny bushes and tall grass, and only Zachary goes up there now and then to enjoy the view.

Tiko pulls up the bushes and cuts straight poles in the forest. For days and days he digs, ties and weaves. Lani makes him a mat for the floor, and he gives her two pink shells for it. At last the hut is ready, with a roof of palm leaves and a little door. “The finest hut on the island!” squawks Zachary.

Morning on the beach. Behind Kai, on the sand, is a small raft of logs tied together. Kai, still wet, with a sky-blue headband, sits holding a grilled fish on a stick. In his other hand he shows some small white fish hooks made of bone. Robinson, with Zachary on his hat, and Friday kneel in front of him and look at the hooks in amazement. On the right, Malu holds a clay jug of water. Beside Kai there is a woven bag.

One morning

A raft on the waves

One morning, Friday spots something bobbing on the waves. “A raft!” On it sits a young man, tired and soaked, holding on tight to a woven bag. The raft bumps onto the sand, and he climbs off on wobbly legs. “I’m Kai,” he says. “The wind blew me a long way from home.”

Malu brings him water in a jug, and Robinson gives him a grilled fish. Kai eats and eats. Then he opens his bag and shows them what’s inside: little fish hooks carved from bone, smooth and sharp. “I make these,” he says proudly. “With one of these, you can catch fish without a net!”

Sunset on the top of the hill, with an orange sky and the sea below. Kai is fast asleep on a mat in the doorway of the hut, with his hands behind his head and his mouth open. A woven bag hangs from the roof. On the left, Tiko, with a basket of fish on his shoulder, has stopped with his eyes wide open and is pointing at Kai.

The next day

Someone in the hut!

The next day, Tiko goes out fishing in his boat. In the evening, he climbs the hill, tired and happy… and stops dead. Someone is snoring in his hut! Kai is fast asleep on Tiko’s new mat, and his bag is hanging from the roof.

“Hey! That’s my hut!” says Tiko. Kai sits up and rubs his eyes. “Your hut? It was empty when I found it. There was nobody inside. So now it’s mine!”

Dusk in front of the hut on the hill. Tiko and Kai, both cross, pull at a mat from either end, like a tug of war. Between them, Friday calmly raises his hands to stop them. Behind them stand Lani, Malu and Robinson. Zachary flies above them with his wings spread.

A moment later

Whose hut is it?

Tiko pulls one end of the mat, and Kai pulls the other. “It’s mine!” “No, it’s mine!” Zachary flies round and round the roof, squawking: “Whose hut is it? Whose hut is it?” The others hear the shouting and hurry up the hill.

Friday calmly raises his hands. “Shouting won’t tell us whose hut it is,” he says. “Come down to the fire. Let’s sit and talk it over.” Tiko and Kai look at each other, still cross, but they follow him down.

A starry night on the beach. Everyone sits on logs around a campfire. Tiko holds out his palms, which are covered in scratches. Beside him, Lani points up at the hut on the dark hill, and Malu smiles. Opposite, Kai rests his chin on his hand, thinking. Robinson and Friday listen, and Zachary sits in front.

That same evening

Who built it?

Around the fire, Kai says it again: “I found it empty.” Lani thinks for a moment. “But who pulled up the thorny bushes on the hill?” she asks. “Who cut the poles and tied the roof?” Tiko holds out his hands. They are covered in scratches and blisters.

“We all saw him,” says Malu. “He worked up there for days and days, from morning till night.” Kai looks at Tiko’s hands and goes quiet. He didn’t know any of that. By the time he got there, the hut was already built.

Night by the fire. Robinson stands holding up his empty net, smiling as if he is asking a question. On the left, Kai sits on a log and scratches his head with a sheepish smile, with Zachary beside him. On the right, Tiko and Friday smile. High up on the hill, you can see the hut.

By the fire

Robinson’s net

Robinson gets up and holds up his net. “When I leave my net on the rocks to dry, it’s empty too. Does that mean anyone can take it?” “Of course not,” says Kai. “It’s yours. You made it.”

“It’s the same with the hut,” says Robinson. “Before Tiko, nobody had ever used that hill. He was the first to clear it and build on it, with his own hands. Just because something is empty, that doesn’t mean it belongs to nobody.” Kai scratches his head. “I see,” he says. “I never thought of it like that.”

A night on the beach with a full moon. In front of the fire, Zachary stands proudly on a rock, with his wings spread and his beak open. Everyone around him is laughing: Lani holds her tummy, Friday points at him, Malu covers her mouth with her hand, and Robinson, Tiko and Kai laugh out loud.

By the fire

Zachary’s beach

Suddenly Zachary hops onto a rock, puffs out his chest and squawks: “Mine! The whole beach is mine! I said it first!” Everyone bursts out laughing. “And what have you done with it?” asks Friday.

“Well… nothing,” says Zachary. “I just said it, very loudly.” “Shouting ‘Mine!’ isn’t enough,” laughs Lani. “Tiko didn’t just shout. He cleared the hill and built the hut. That’s why it’s his.” Zachary tucks his head under his wing, a little embarrassed.

Night by the fire. In the middle, Kai, a little shy, shakes hands with Tiko, and Tiko smiles and puts his other hand on Kai’s shoulder. On the left, Malu sits on a log, smiling. On the right, Lani, Robinson and Friday smile, and Zachary sits on Robinson’s hat. High up on the hill, the hut.

Late that night

Do we need a chief?

Kai has another idea. “Maybe we need a chief,” he says, “to decide who gets each hut.” Malu shakes her head with a smile. “Why? We all know who built the hut. Nobody needs to decide that for us.”

Kai gets up and goes over to Tiko. “I’m sorry I slept in your hut,” he says. “I’ll take my bag and go.” Tiko smiles and shakes his hand. “Stay there tonight, it’s late. Tomorrow we’ll find you a place of your own.”

A sunny morning in a clearing beside a stream, with tall grass, palm trees and colourful wild flowers. Friday holds out his hand to show the place. Kai, smiling, kneels and pulls up a big clump of grass with both hands. Zachary watches from a branch.

The next morning

A clearing for Kai

The next morning, Friday takes Kai to a clearing by the stream, on the other side of the island. It’s full of tall grass and wild flowers. “Nobody uses this place,” says Friday. “Nobody has ever built anything here.”

“So if I clear it and build my hut here, it will be mine?” asks Kai. “Yes,” says Friday, “just like the hut on the hill is Tiko’s.” Kai gives a big grin and pulls up the first clump of grass straight away.

A sunny day in the clearing by the stream. Behind them is the frame of a hut made of wooden poles. Kai and Tiko shake hands, smiling. In his other hand, Kai holds a big green leaf with white bone fish hooks on it. On the right, Robinson happily holds up a piece of carved bone, with pink shells in his other palm.

That same day

Hooks for help

But Kai has never built a hut before. He doesn’t know how to tie a roof that keeps the rain out. So he goes to Tiko. “Will you show me how, and help me with the roof? I’ll give you six fish hooks.” “It’s a deal!” says Tiko, and they shake hands.

Robinson wants some hooks too, so he gives Kai six pink shells for three of them. With two shells Kai gets a mat from Lani, with three he gets a jug from Malu, and he still has one left over. Nobody makes anybody do anything. They each give something they have for something they want more.

A sunny afternoon by the stream. A new little hut with a roof of fresh palm leaves is almost finished. Kai kneels and places white stones in a ring around a small garden. Far away, on top of a hill, you can see Tiko’s hut with its own white stones. On the right, Zachary sits proudly in a nest of twigs high up in a palm tree, and Lani looks up at him, clapping her hands.

Day after day

Mine and yours

Day after day, Kai’s hut grows beside the stream. Kai puts a row of white stones around his little garden, and Tiko does the same on the hill. “Now everyone can see where your place ends and mine begins,” says Kai.

Even Zachary builds a nest in the big palm tree, from twigs he gathered himself. “This nest is mine,” he squawks proudly, “because I made it!” This time nobody laughs. “That’s right, Zachary,” says Lani, clapping her hands. “That nest is yours.”

A golden afternoon in front of Kai’s new hut, with white stones around it. Kai and Tiko stand with their arms around each other, laughing. Robinson holds a grilled fish on a leaf, Friday holds up a bunch of bananas, Lani dances and Malu holds a clay jug. Zachary sits in his nest in the palm tree. Between the trees you can see the sea, and far away on the horizon a little sail.

One afternoon

A party at the new hut

When the hut is finished, Kai invites everyone to a party. Malu brings a jug of coconut water, Robinson brings grilled fish and Friday brings bananas. Tiko puts his arm around Kai’s shoulders. “Now we’re neighbours,” he says, and they both laugh.

“Who decided whose hut is whose?” asks Zachary. “Nobody had to decide,” laughs Lani. “Each hut belongs to the one who built it. And when we all know what’s mine and what’s yours, there’s nothing to fight about.” Far out at sea, a new sail appears on the horizon… but that’s another story.

The End

The Lesson

Nobody had used the hill before Tiko. He was the first to clear it and build there, with his own hands. That’s why the hut is his. Finding something empty, or shouting “Mine!” like Zachary, doesn’t make it yours.

Kai didn’t take the hut by force. He found a place that nobody was using and made it his own with his work. And when he needed help, he swapped: hooks for help, shells for a mat and a jug. Everyone agreed, and everyone was happy.

When everyone knows what’s mine and what’s yours, there’s nothing to fight about. No chief was needed: the friends on the island worked it out for themselves, around the fire. A clear “mine and yours”, and swaps that everyone makes because they want to, keep the peace.

For grown-ups: sources and further reading

Where each page comes from

Further reading

  • Murray N. Rothbard, For a New Liberty, ch. 2: how someone comes to own a thing that belonged to nobody, by being the first to use it and work on it, and why free swaps between owners keep the peace (sections “Property Rights” and “Free Exchange and Free Contract”).
  • Frédéric Bastiat, The Law: property does not exist because people made laws; laws were made because property existed first.
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Note

The pictures are illustrations for children, and the story is made up. Robinson and Friday are inspired by Daniel Defoe’s characters (1719); Zachary, Malu, Lani, Tiko and Kai are invented. The story follows an old idea that Murray N. Rothbard explains: a thing that belonged to nobody becomes yours when you are the first to use it and work on it, and from then on it only changes hands if you choose to give it away.

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