It was my dad’s invention; leastways he never told me he’d heard of it some place else.

Picture a load of lousy rotten kids around a cake. 

How to cut it up so no-one complained they’d got a small piece?

Answer?  Fred’s Formula.

Kid No.1 is about to cut the first slice.

“Aha” you say, “the greedy little git will cut himself a big one”.

He might.

But enter Fred’s Formula.

“You can cut any sized slice” says my dad “but anyone else can have it if they want”

Greedy kid thinks, “If I cut a whopper somebody else will nab it”

“So” thinks lousy rotten kid No.1, “I’ll cut a small one”.

“Anyone want it?” asks my dad.

No takers.

“It’s yours then” he says to LRK No.1.

Hoist with his own petard, as they say.

Pass the knife to lousy rotten kid No. 2.

Same rules.

You can see where this is going, can’t you?

A fair and equitable system for sharing the wealth.

And an early lesson in socialism for Yours Truly.