Why Rome Wasn't Built in a Day [WRC], page 1

7 am 6 July

Long overdue, 'Project Midsummer Night's Dream' is finished, finally, a mere fortnight after its launch, and millennia in the making.

I am weary. Bone weary. Soul weary. Struggle weary. But now I am named leader, I must lead. I did not choose it; yet I will do my best. Really, how hard can it be?

I fear calling any man or woman 'friend', and trust only in my animal companions and children younger than four years of age. Can they assist me? How do I protect them? I have but one set of eyes. What ruler can manage with so few?

I think back on all the journals, the diaries, the edicts, the proclamations, the manifestos, the constitutions and declarations and mission statements produced by those who have fallen before. An infinite variety of styles, from utter subservience to the people to absolute tyranny. None have worked.

By the process of elimination I am certain of that! An entirely new mode must be devised, and at once. A surprise. A fantasy. A deliverance for all.

But what lofty goal is this? That question alone has an indisputable answer: A ridiculous one.

First things first: Establish definition.

1) All species of animal on planet earth is granted the same essential rights as every other. Human beings are animals. None is superior over another.

Then: Contain and destroy the poison.

2) There is no "legal tender." No currency. Every exchange of goods or services must be settled between the parties themselves using goods they already possess or services they can render.

All right. So far so good. Not that complicated, really!

All must feel valid.

Dogs.
Instincts:
Beta is a retriever; Alpha is a shepherd. A ball thrown is chased and caught by Beta. Alpha runs alongside and "brings" Beta back. Both have succeeded.

Geese
Cooperation:
Each takes a turn on point while flying to their seasonal abode until they are too weary to continue. Then they drop back and another takes up point.

3) All will contribute to the best of their talent and only to the degree which leaves them satisfied and fulfilled. The balance of their time is free to do as they choose.

Strange as it seems, creature comforts (i.e. the necessities of life) are but only now forefront in my musings for success! Perhaps because it seems so basic and obvious. Yet, there are those who would never think of it.

4) No person or animal shall be deprived of or want for shelter, clothing, food, clean water, pure air. These basic rights are guaranteed for all, and nothing shall be demanded in return for them.

I sigh. There will be insurgents.

Humans.
Vice:
There will be Greed, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Conflict, Hoarding, Calumny, Theft, all. It is beyond my ability to eradicate these, not even The Almighty has devised a plan for policing these malicious traits of humans.

Dogs.
Possessions:
When Alpha covets Beta's chew-toy, she takes it. Beta simply finds another. Alpha loses interest. This is the pattern wherever there is no shortage of chew-toys. When there is a dearth of chew-toys, things can become ugly. Avoiding this is very simple: all have chew-toys. When Beta looks away and Alpha creeps near and usurps the chew-toy, carries it away and attempts to hide it…in the leaf litter, the bedclothes, the sofa cushions, the soil

(for what? for later? or simply for the joy of having stolen it away? I know not)

Beta is momentarily distraught or confused. Given another chew-toy, the incident is overlooked every time. Likewise, I can comprehend no reason for people to not behave in the same way. Yet it happens. How can anyone be immunized?

5) 'Ownership' is abolished. No person shall claim exclusive rights to any place or thing that is beyond his personal need at the moment. The commons are Planet Earth. Her resources belong to all.

The troops grow restless. The sycophants languish in the shadows with nothing to do.

"Can you not entertain yourselves?" I want to shout. "I see no other species that follows its Leader about awaiting instructions! What is wrong with you?! Have you no brain? No interests? No hobbies? Do whatever you like! Stop pressing me for a livelihood, I have nothing to offer!"

They look at me expectantly. Then with expressions of incomprehension. They'll not stop. I am expected to issue orders. A dog bred to work grows bored and destructive when he has no occupation.

6) Any person seeking to withhold these dignities from any other living thing shall be removed from society.

But where to put them? My fingers drum, my teeth gnaw at my bottom lip, I gaze out at the sunlight dancing from the leaves that quake as the fiddling breeze accompanies the birdsong of morning.

…I can devise no suitable 'where' when I consider a place to put them! They – those inevitable failures, those absolute abominations – thus will have to arrange it between themselves. Without assistance. Or perhaps I can divine a trap. How to lure the malefactors away from the common folk? Ah...set up a temptation, of course.

A tyrant might open the Emperor's coffers. Let the wolves inside, lock them in. Then burn it down.

And a tyrant would fail, for fear is never a way to gain followers. Instead, a wild goose chase. A snipe hunt. A buried treasure map.

.................................

10 am 6 July

The maps are completed and dispatched to the usual suspects (their banks being closed they've nothing else to do).

Now, how to occupy those who would be rewarded with status... Aha! The stuff of fairy tales. The wise king always sends the suitors out with a goal to achieve before giving his daughter's hand in marriage. Send the troops and the sycophants out to find the homeless, the hungry, the desperate and the lonely, the abandoned and the lost. Their orders are to correct whatever needs correcting.

That done, I wonder: Do I really need bodyguards? Are there intrigues being plotted even now? I must keep my wits about me. Surely there are those who covet my position. …

A blanket restraining order? No. Self-imposed exile.
…………………………

7 am 7 July
It is finished. Twenty four hours was all it took.

The declarations have been delivered. I see no reason for more than that. I have chosen my dwelling place also, and made it ready but told no one where it is. I added but one more item to the list, then delivered the document. It is to be tacked on every place that bills are posted, every signboard, every intersection, taped to every sidewalk.

(One of the sergeants reminded me that every former public notice spot has a warning on it saying:

BILL POSTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
He asked if he should remove it. I told him no, but to add another notice below that:
BILL POSTERS IS INNOCENT
He could not understand why I laughed.)

7) Help one another, and fare well.

And so my work is done, and now I take my leave. My animals and I will have sailed over the horizon before the sun sets. I have left behind in my apartment a disappearance note. ('Please seek me not.') Those few, those happy few who understand me will know what I mean, and probably where to look, and their company I will always welcome. As for the rest….

Meh...
I wish them well, and leave them with brightest blessings, but I can only lend guidance, and that I have done. It really isn't that complicated, after all: Just Be Nice.
edit on 19-4-2012 by wildtimes because: remove extra ')'

edit on 19-4-2012 by wildtimes because: (no reason given)