Name: Anonymous 2007-08-11 4:01 ID:HzAwOXbd
Once upon a time there were two men, Enterprise and Mediocrity who, together with their wives, were shipwrecked on a tropical island. When they landed on the shore, Mediocrity lay down in the sun to rest and sent his wife to join Enterprise and his wife who were scouring the vegetation adjacent to the beach in search of food. After a few hours Enterprise and the two women returned to where Mediocrity lay dosing and shared their food with him. Mediocrity and his wife then lay down to sleep with their tummies contentedly full. Enterprise and his wife however decided to erect some sort of shelter to protect themselves from the likelihood of a sudden tropical storm.
After a shared dinner that evening Mediocrity and his wife sat around the fire they had all made while Enterprise and his wife retired to their makeshift shelter for the night. Sure enough it rained the night and Mediocrity and his wife were drenched, but did manage to find some shelter under some trees. Enterprise and his wife slept soundly and remained dry. The next morning Mediocrity thought it might be a good idea to also erect some sort of shelter but when he was dry and sitting in the warmth of the sun with his wife searching for food he felt quite content with life and did nothing instead.
Enterprise and his wife, however, set about repairing their little shelter to make it a little more secure and comfortable. Once it was done they also rummaged around in search of food. And so life continued. Mediocrity never quite got round to building a shelter although he did find an overhanging rock to sit under. Enterprise however built a reasonably secure dwelling. But all was not just misery and despair for Mediocrity. His wife found a spot in the trees where fruit fell on the ground in abundance and fermented, so the two of them ate the fruit and then passed out in oblivion without a care in the world.
When winter came around Enterprise and his wife collected driftwood to make a fire but Mediocrity decided it was too much trouble so he merely instructed his wife to chop down the nearby trees and used them for fuel instead. As time went by Enterprise and his wife had children who seemed to display the same characteristics of responsibility as their parents. There were not too many of them as their parents took care to ensure that they were well fed and nurtured. Mediocrity however seemed to be of the opinion he should have as many children as possible, because it was, after all, his God given right, and furthermore he didn’t even have to care for them because it was his wife’s responsibility.
Eventually there was quite a population on the little island but as the natural resources were used up Enterprise became concerned and proposed everyone needed to become a bit more environmentally conscious and in particular should avoid chopping down the trees in winter to obtain firewood as it was impacting on the ability to collect fruit in summer. Mediocrity didn’t agree because his wives and children still managed to find lots of fermented fruit even though they now had to scour a lot further afield in order to do so. He therefore proposed a democratic vote. Enterprise agreed but was not surprised to find Mediocrity and all his children outvoted him by a huge majority.
Enterprise then decided he would move to the western half of the island and start life again. In time he planted crops and cared for the vegetation and animals on his side of the island and his family community prospered. Mediocrity and his family community continued to pillage their side of the island, cutting down the trees and then killing off wildlife as their food supplies diminished. Ultimately his side of the island was denuded of most natural resources while on Enterprise’s western side of the island life remained wonderful.
Fortunately for Enterprise there was a wide river separating him from Mediocrity and although Enterprise had built boats to use for fishing, Mediocrity had never done so. Enterprise was a socially conscious person however, and when he saw Mediocrity and his family were struggling to survive he sent food across the river to them using his fishing vessels. One day however Mediocrity looked across the river and thought to himself— “Why should I stay on this side of the island and starve when there is so much on the western side available for the taking?” So next time Enterprise sent some food across the river by boat in order to help Mediocrity and his community, Mediocrity attacked the messengers and seized their boats. He then assembled his community and attacked Enterprise and overwhelmed him by sheer force of numbers.
Everything went well for Mediocrity for a while after this because he now had a whole new area of the tropical island to exploit. In time however he was back to living in poverty but this time there was no Enterprise to help him.... It makes me wonder if one man one vote is always a good thing? Maybe one man one vote should be weighed by something like one educated man one extra vote or perhaps one well educated man ten extra votes, or perhaps even one extra vote for every Rl0 paid in taxes? Oh well, one can always dream there is a western shore somewhere in the future which may yet survive our present unjust and biased system of governing. Making one child and then giving him one vote is easy. Making one responsible citizen with a knowledgeable vote is another thing altogether.
After a shared dinner that evening Mediocrity and his wife sat around the fire they had all made while Enterprise and his wife retired to their makeshift shelter for the night. Sure enough it rained the night and Mediocrity and his wife were drenched, but did manage to find some shelter under some trees. Enterprise and his wife slept soundly and remained dry. The next morning Mediocrity thought it might be a good idea to also erect some sort of shelter but when he was dry and sitting in the warmth of the sun with his wife searching for food he felt quite content with life and did nothing instead.
Enterprise and his wife, however, set about repairing their little shelter to make it a little more secure and comfortable. Once it was done they also rummaged around in search of food. And so life continued. Mediocrity never quite got round to building a shelter although he did find an overhanging rock to sit under. Enterprise however built a reasonably secure dwelling. But all was not just misery and despair for Mediocrity. His wife found a spot in the trees where fruit fell on the ground in abundance and fermented, so the two of them ate the fruit and then passed out in oblivion without a care in the world.
When winter came around Enterprise and his wife collected driftwood to make a fire but Mediocrity decided it was too much trouble so he merely instructed his wife to chop down the nearby trees and used them for fuel instead. As time went by Enterprise and his wife had children who seemed to display the same characteristics of responsibility as their parents. There were not too many of them as their parents took care to ensure that they were well fed and nurtured. Mediocrity however seemed to be of the opinion he should have as many children as possible, because it was, after all, his God given right, and furthermore he didn’t even have to care for them because it was his wife’s responsibility.
Eventually there was quite a population on the little island but as the natural resources were used up Enterprise became concerned and proposed everyone needed to become a bit more environmentally conscious and in particular should avoid chopping down the trees in winter to obtain firewood as it was impacting on the ability to collect fruit in summer. Mediocrity didn’t agree because his wives and children still managed to find lots of fermented fruit even though they now had to scour a lot further afield in order to do so. He therefore proposed a democratic vote. Enterprise agreed but was not surprised to find Mediocrity and all his children outvoted him by a huge majority.
Enterprise then decided he would move to the western half of the island and start life again. In time he planted crops and cared for the vegetation and animals on his side of the island and his family community prospered. Mediocrity and his family community continued to pillage their side of the island, cutting down the trees and then killing off wildlife as their food supplies diminished. Ultimately his side of the island was denuded of most natural resources while on Enterprise’s western side of the island life remained wonderful.
Fortunately for Enterprise there was a wide river separating him from Mediocrity and although Enterprise had built boats to use for fishing, Mediocrity had never done so. Enterprise was a socially conscious person however, and when he saw Mediocrity and his family were struggling to survive he sent food across the river to them using his fishing vessels. One day however Mediocrity looked across the river and thought to himself— “Why should I stay on this side of the island and starve when there is so much on the western side available for the taking?” So next time Enterprise sent some food across the river by boat in order to help Mediocrity and his community, Mediocrity attacked the messengers and seized their boats. He then assembled his community and attacked Enterprise and overwhelmed him by sheer force of numbers.
Everything went well for Mediocrity for a while after this because he now had a whole new area of the tropical island to exploit. In time however he was back to living in poverty but this time there was no Enterprise to help him.... It makes me wonder if one man one vote is always a good thing? Maybe one man one vote should be weighed by something like one educated man one extra vote or perhaps one well educated man ten extra votes, or perhaps even one extra vote for every Rl0 paid in taxes? Oh well, one can always dream there is a western shore somewhere in the future which may yet survive our present unjust and biased system of governing. Making one child and then giving him one vote is easy. Making one responsible citizen with a knowledgeable vote is another thing altogether.