Imagine if you will two separate
yet identical foster homes, both of which are completely self-sustaining, they
both have complex water purifying systems, and a massive organic garden along
with animals for food as well. Everything
is provided in abundance for everyone in the household so long as it is
properly cared for. Both homes house a
variety of different races and religious beliefs, yet the parents have done a
very good job of keeping the peace. One
day, the parents leave, telling the children that someday they will return.
Let’s
take a look at the first house, once the parents leave, they decide that they
are going to neglect their responsibilities and just have fun, after all, the
parents will be back soon and they will fix everything. Instead of cleaning out the water purifier,
they let it accumulate debris and rot.
Instead of caring for all the crops in the garden, they find a couple of
different plants that grow the fastest and are easiest to harvest and decide to
wipe out everything else to make room to plant more. The monoculture system that they create is
more easily susceptible to insect and rodents, leading to destruction of
crops. They then decide to begin using
pesticide to deal with the insect infestation and to use chemical fertilizer to
make the foods grow faster. The
chemicals are absorbed into the soil and into the food, eventually weakening
those who eat it. They soon begin to run
out of food and water, and start fighting amongst one another about how to
distribute the work that needs to be done.
They start to notice the differences in appearance and beliefs amongst
them and begin to band together in separate groups. The groups decide that there needs to be some
kind of order, so they decide that they are going to have a vote to elect
someone to put in charge. Behind closed
doors a select few tally the votes, and then put someone that they feel will do
best in charge, disregarding the majority.
This “leader” begins to alienate the groups even more, pointing out
flaws and traits of groups that are not his own. The work begins to be unfairly distributed,
some groups work much harder than others, yet they receive a fraction of the
resources. Gossip occurs and the “leader”
begins to build on it, having his followers walk amongst the other groups and
stir up trouble. Eventually the groups
begin to fight against one another while the “elite” group sits back and
watches. During these fights, crops are
destroyed and sections of the house are damaged beyond repair, making less
living space. “Lesser” groups are forced
to live outside and are given inadequate sustenance. “Don’t worry” the "elite" group would assure everyone
“someday the parents will come back and fix everything.” The majority of the remaining crops are used to
feed the farm animals so they can be slaughtered for meat for the “elite”
group. Soon all the others are too weak
to do anything and are unable to go on, while the “elite” group hordes
resources and luxuries, everyone else suffers.
Now,
let’s take a look at the second house.
The children do not know when the parents are going to be coming back,
so they are constantly prepared. They
keep the house in the same order that it would be if the parents were there,
they clean the water purifier, care for the crops and animals, and love one
another just as the parents love them.
The work is distributed amongst everyone based on capabilities, everyone
is eager to help and the rewards are also distributed, regardless of color or
beliefs; after all, there is more than enough to go around. Because there is an abundance of different
crops in the garden, pests and rodents cannot easily adapt to eating just one
type of plant and so are easier to prevent.
The animals are regarded as friends and are rarely used as food. Instead they are used to help with the labor
in the garden, as well as fertilizer for the crops. They realized that milk from a cow and eggs
from chickens can feed many people for many days, whereas if the animals are
butchered they have a limited supply of meat.
The home flourishes, and with everyone working together, the work load
is lighter and there is more time for enjoyment.
So now
I ask you, how does this story end? Do
the parents ever come back to save the first house from themselves? What if our “parents” came back and saw what
we have done to our “home”? What would
they think of us? We have been given an
enormous responsibility, and to put it blunt, we are screwing up. It just may be time to start to think about
this from a different perspective. Will
we continue to let the “elite” group tell us who to hate and what to
believe? Or are we going to care for our
“home” and our brothers and sisters as if our “parents” were still here? Will we love each other as our “parents” love
us?
