Shantharam, of taking showers and creating jobs: Whats the economic lesson

I am currently reading Shantaram, the highly acclaimed literary masterpiece written by a man who has undergone almost every experience in life. But whats really stuck me about the book are its brilliant one liners. They are made by people who wander in wilderness for eternity, but their conversations would make any philosopher proud. Here are some of the gems

"If fate doesn't make you laugh, you just havent got the joke"

"The difference between news and gossip is, news tells you what people did while gossip tell you how much they enjoyed doing it"

But this post is about a particular sequence in the book which i thought was a brilliant economic lesson.

Shantaram on landing in India checks into a hotel. Its summer in Mumbai, so he takes 3-4 showers a day. But one day he watches people taking water 6 stairs up maually to fill the tank so that guests in the hotel can take those showers. Shantaram feels guilty about it and says to his guide that from that day on he wont take any shower in the hotel. The guide asks him instead to take more showers, because thats what will keep those people employed.

I think this sequence demonstrates the contrasting philosophies that free market and other non free market ideologies like socialism & communism,apply in handling economic puzzles. Non free market ideologies will shed tears and ask the tourist in the hotel to stop taking showers which would throw those poor people out of job. While free markets will encourage the tourists to take more showers and hence creating more jobs.

Ultimately in the long run for poverty aleviation shedding tears will acheive nothing, infact create more trouble. In the long run its not shedding tears but feeding mouths that matter