A Nation of Fools
It's very likely that today was the last day of Democracy in the United States. We elected a criminal to be our President, and he successfully nullified all of the protections and guardrails that could curtail his abuses. For the next 4 years, corruption will be rewarded. If you're smart, then you'll just pay Trump to look the other way so that you can plunder the weak and the powerless. It's just good business!
Except, that's not quite right.
Trump didn't remove the guardrails. He convinced a nation of fools that the guardrails were their enemy, so they eagerly dismantled them.
I've been thinking up a parable for the last few hours, but I'm too sleepy to do a proper write-up on it right now. So, here's at least the gist of it:
It's 11:30 PM on Christmas Eve. The scene opens at an orphanage where several children are trying to sleep. Suddenly, they hear a banging in the hallway outside. A few children get up to investigate, and they quickly deduce that a burglar is trying to break into the front door. They return to their room and instruct the other children to call 911.
"But... what if it's Santa?" one of the children asks.
Somehow, the burglar overhears this, so he decides to play along. "Don't be silly! I'm not Santa! I'm one of Santa's elves!". He then twirls around and does a goofy jig.
Well, half of the children are completely convinced by this act. They begin clapping their hands and laughing.
The burglar continues: "Santa slipped on the ice yesterday, so he's having trouble walking today. So, I'm here to clean up each of your rooms and make them safe for Santa to walk through! If your room is messy, then Santa won't be able to deliver any of your presents!"
Two of the children immediately begin running to the door to let the "elf" in, but they are blocked by one of the older children. "Wait -- you don't believe this guy, right? He's obviously a burglar who was trying to break into the front door with a crowbar!"
The burglar glances at his crowbar and feigns astonishment. "Oh my! Oh my oh me! My Magical Candy Cane has transformed into a lump of cold steel! This must mean that some of you don't believe in the magic of Christmas!"
A debate erupts amongst the children. Some of them assert that Santa Claus isn't real, and the magic of Christmas arises from human kindness. Unfortunately, the hysterical majority refuse to listen to reason and insist that Santa is the only possible explanation for the presents on Christmas morning. They vote to let the "elf" into the building, and they happily help him "clean" by packing up all of the orphanage's valuables into his sack.
As everything is plundered, a handful of clearheaded children continue pleading with the others to come to their senses. But, it quickly becomes apparent that the other children are just fools, and there is no helping them. Besides: at this point, it's already too late. The fatal mistake already happened, and explaining the mistake won't mitigate any of the damage. So, the clearheaded children instead focus on salvaging whatever scraps they can without the burglar noticing.
Meanwhile, the foolish children gleefully fulfill each and every one of the "elf's" demands. "Uh oh! The naughty disbelievers might scare Santa away by calling the police! You better cut the phone lines to stop them!" Snip ship -- the phone lines are cut.
"Uh oh! The naughty disbelievers might scare Santa away by pulling the fire alarm! You better take the fuses out of the fuse box!". Yoink yoink -- the fuses are stolen.
And on and on it goes.
Christmas morning arrives, and surprise surprise: there are no presents. The tree has been stolen, the Christmas decorations have been stolen, the food has been stolen, and everything has been stolen. All that is left are the scraps that were salvaged by the clearheaded children. Of course, the Santa believers still don't understand what actually happened. "We worked so hard to clean up!" one of the children wails. "We cleaned and cleaned, but Santa didn't come because you didn't believe in his magic!"
Geez -- talk about a knife right in the heart! The clearheaded children feel awful for the fools, so they distribute their scraps amongst them. Everyone is poorer and worse off, and the foolish children who ruined everything for everyone never even comprehend their mistake.
The End.
Anyway, I guess we'll see what happens. The "elf" enters the orphanage tomorrow. Maybe, by some miracle, the children who believe in Santa will turn out to be right this time.
