DaretothREdux (44.62)

MONEY: A Fable, Part 1

December 23, 2008 – Comments (8) | RELATED TICKERS: USA

Once upon a time there was a town called Usa. Usa was very old and prosperous town. All the Usaians were taught in school about how their great town had become so prosperous. But seeing as how you are most likely unfamiliar with their story, I will recount these events for you. The abundant wealth of the Usaians was due to a gathering, years before, of the smartest Usaian people. These people are often refered to in Usaian history as the foundas. The foundas gathered together and wrote down a detailed plan. This plan would later become know by all Usaians as the Rules for Prosperity.

At first all the Usains knew all the Rules, especially, the basic ones: the right to life, the right to property, and the right to pursue prosperity. The other less basic rules were: the right to protect you and your family, the right to a trail by your peers, the right to freedoms of speech and thought. Most Usaians took these basic rights for granted. The Usaians decided that it would be best if they had a government, but that the government should have grave restrictions put upon it. They all agreed that their government should only be allowed to do what was absolutely necessary, which usually meant as little as possible. The Usaians determined after much deliberation that the only role of the government was to protect the basic rights of every citizen of Usa, and to uphold the Rules.

As the years passed the Usaians became more and more prosperous but they also became more and more complacent. Inventions such as the television and the internet (tools which could have been used for the massive free flow of ideas) were mainly used for entertainment purposes and porn. Many Usaians stopped caring about the actions their government took. The majority of Usaians stopped paying attention to their politici (that’s what they called their politicians). It got to the point that more Usaians voted for the winner of Usa Singer (a popular reality show) than voted in general elections.

The politici had always been eager for more power as is common among all people with power, and they began to take notice of the people’s complacency. Finally, an opportunity to increase their power had arrived after all these years.

Slowly Rules began to disappear one at a time. The first rule to go was one of the most basic rules of all: the right to property. You see the politici desired to increase its power, but lacked the monetary means. But since there was no paper money in those days and the government didn’t have the right to tax its citizens, the politici found it difficult with the little money they received from taxes on imports to increase their power. So, one day, during an episode of Usa Singer while all the people were watching their television screens and calling in their votes the government held their own vote and created an income tax on the people. Somehow (and it’s still a mystery to this day) the government was able to convince the Usaians that it was necessary measure to take away their right to property to protect their other rights.

(To be continued...)