Meaning & Analysis
When a large wheel of cheese is prepared for serving, a significant portion of it is cut off as the rind or 'parings', resulting in considerable waste before the final product is presented.
Insights
Bureaucratic Waste and Corruption
The proverb is a metaphor for government corruption and inefficiency. The 'cheese' represents state revenue (taxes), while the 'parings' are the funds siphoned off by officials and bureaucrats, leaving only a fraction for its intended public purpose.
Loss in Distribution
It illustrates how the value of a resource is diminished as it passes through many hands. Each intermediary or administrative layer takes a portion, so the final recipient receives far less than what was originally allocated.
The Cost of Grandeur
The saying critiques the cost of maintaining power and status. The 'King's' own administrative system is so bloated and inefficient that it consumes a large part of the very resources it is meant to manage, undermining its own wealth.
Historical Critique of Bureaucracy
The proverb uses 'cheese' as a potent symbol for national wealth derived from the people's labor ('milk,' as Benjamin Franklin adds). The 'parings' represent the portion of this wealth consumed by intermediaries—the administrative state. This reflects a deep-seated historical cynicism toward tax collection and bureaucratic systems, prevalent in the 17th and 18th centuries when state apparatuses were expanding.
The Principal-Agent Problem
This saying is a timeless illustration of the principal-agent problem, where the agents (officials) act in their own self-interest, diminishing the resources intended for the principal (the king or state). It captures the inherent friction and loss within any large hierarchical system, whether a government or a corporation.
Populist Skepticism
The proverb taps into a populist sentiment of distrust towards authority. It implies that while the people provide the resources, a bloated and self-serving government squanders them before they can be used for their intended purpose. Franklin's addition sharpens this political edge, highlighting that the ultimate cost of this waste is borne by the populace.
Systemic Inefficiency
Beyond corruption, the proverb speaks to the inherent inefficiencies in any large-scale distribution system. It suggests that a significant portion of value is often lost in transit, processing, and administration, a concept relevant to everything from charity fundraising to corporate supply chains.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The core of the proverb is a powerful domestic metaphor, using 'cheese' and 'parings' to make a complex political or economic critique about taxation and waste accessible and memorable.
Hyperbole
The phrase 'half away' is a deliberate exaggeration used to emphasize the shocking scale of the waste and corruption, making the proverb's warning more potent and memorable.
Synecdoche
The 'cheese' serves as synecdoche, representing the entire wealth or tax revenue of a nation, while the 'parings' represent all forms of loss, from corruption to simple administrative costs.
Irony
There is a strong situational irony in that the system designed to serve and enrich the monarch ends up being the primary cause of the depletion of his wealth.
Transcription
Quotations
*Among so many Officers.
But three parts of four [taxes] are drunk up among hungry Officers whence grew the proverb, that the King's cheese goes away three parts in parings.
(goes away Half).
*A great deal of it goes to the Officers of the Revenue.
The king's cheese is half wasted in parings; but no matter, 't is made of the peoples milk.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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