There was once a flock of geese attended by a group of farmers. One day, the farmers noticed that if they treated the geese to a certain combination of grains and special nests each day, the geese would lay eggs of the finest gold. This was a surprise to them but gave them inspiration and hope for a different kind of life than they had in that land and in the previous lands from which they came. So they began to organize themselves so that there would always be the right grains available daily for the geese to eat. They started the FUAG (Farmers United for all Geese) nation. This required much effort and each farmer had to contribute a great deal and even compromise their own needs to make it all work. However, the golden eggs came each day and were of the finest quality imaginable.
Well, the FUAG’s were amazed and very excited about their discovery and so they began to write down the exact formula in a document called The Organizing Principles for the Benefit of All (TOPBA) and they worked to be sure the grains would be there for the geese in future generations. They had many regulations and quality control features in their system to ensure that the geese were managed correctly and that all FUAG’s participated and received the benefits. The farmers were able to sell their golden eggs or trade them for many wonderful things and the farmers grew very rich and enjoyed a wonderful life. Their children had the finest of opportunities. Life was good and promised to be even better in the future.
As others nearby saw what had happened, they began to ask if they could join and since there was so much gold, the farmers agreed and invited the others to join them. As more and more farmers began to work together, the geese were fed so well that they began to lay even bigger eggs of gold and some were double-yolk eggs that won every prize around for their size and luster. The work was hard and it required a great deal of cooperation to be sure that the exact requirements were met but since everyone benefited, the farmers were glad to do it all.
Life was good in the entire region. Not everyone had exactly the same things and some had a little more than others. Some lived on top of the hills and some lived in the valleys; some had few children while others had many. Some worked hard with their hands while others wrote poetry and songs but every one of the farmers continued to provide their part of the diet for the flock of geese that had now grown very large and needed a great deal of tending. Every day without fail, the TOPBA was reviewed to be sure that all the articles were fulfilled and that everyone benefited. All of the FUAG nation felt involved and that they contributed to the effort and received benefits.
One day, a farmer began to suggest that there would be an easier way to get the golden eggs. The farmers should divide up into groups and some would feed the geese while others would tend to their nests and others would gather the eggs. Since that farmer seemed to be very smart and it might mean that everyone could work a little less and maybe not have to provide so much care for the geese, it was agreed to divide up the group. And so they did. Well, that seemed to work very well and everyone had a little more free time.
As time went along, it became obvious to some of the farmers that not everyone needed to have the education classes on geese care and so they quit going and they even shut down some of those schools since they were too costly and too much trouble. Those that provided the care for the geese and their nests now had more time to work and so they worked very hard. Those famers that were in charge of gathering eggs, had more and more to gather and they began to see an opportunity. Perhaps, they thought, they should manage the eggs since they understood better how to find them and how to safeguard them.
As the education classes were held less and less, the FUAG nation began to forget some of the TOPBA rules and why they were even there in the first place. Some people even felt that TOPBA stood for “TOP Boys get it All.” There started to be more confusion as to why the geese even existed since the eggs were not as big anymore and not as plentiful to everyone.
The Egg Gatherers soon controlled all the eggs and gold no longer flowed to everyone. The other FUAG’s were very angry and so they told the neighboring farmers to go away and they started to find ways to eliminate some of their own so that the small amounts of golden eggs would still be theirs.
The geese, however, were no longer fed and they quit laying and began to migrate to other lands in search of what was needed for them to lay golden eggs. The FUAG’s were sad and angry; so angry they blamed the geese and ate any of them that had not already fled.
No Comments