Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Parable of the Sheep and Wolves

There was once a flock of sheep. Contented sheep. Shepherds kept good care of these sheep. The shepherds led the sheep to cool water. Through the shepherds work green grass was always available. At night the shepherds led the sheep to a sheepfold for their protection. Life was good for the sheep.

There were also wolves. Life was not so good for the wolves. The shepherds were an nuisance to the wolves. Sheep were good food. In the absence of the shepherds the sheep would be easily obtained food. So the wolves decided something had to be done about the shepherds.

The sheep were individualists. They believed in the ideology of individualism. Each sheep was, or at least should be, responsible for its own wellbeing. It was wrong, the sheep believed, for sheep to believe someone else should be responsible for an individual sheep’s wellbeing. To believe one was entitled to some benefit whether one worked for it or not was a violation of the idea of individualism. Individuals as individuals had to take personal responsibility for their own welfare.

The sheep also believed in the law of just deserves. Individuals received just what they deserved according to the effort they put into life. Individuals who put great effort into life got great rewards. Those sheep who put little effort into life got little reward. Those who put little effort into life should not complain when the received little reward. Those sheep were simply getting that which they deserved.

The wolves saw opportunity in these ideas. They convinced the sheep living under the control of shepherds was bad for them as individuals. They pointed out some flocks had been under the protection of very bad shepherds. These bad shepherds had killed sheep just for the pleasure it gave the shepherds. The wolves referred to these bad shepherds as socialists. They then referred to the shepherds caring for this flock as “socialists” simply because the shepherds took care of the sheep. If the sheep did not want to live under the rule of evil socialists they needed to consider getting rid of the shepherds because all shepherds were at heart socialists. Since the sheep did not want to live under socialism they took this under consideration.

The wolves then pointed out how the shepherds work was opposed to the law of just deserves. Shepherds led all the sheep to cool water. So the sheep got cool water whether the deserved it or not. The shepherds led the sheep to green grass. So the sheep got green grass whether they deserved it or not. The shepherds led the sheep to a sheepfold at night so the sheep were protected in the sheepfold whether they deserved it or not. So the sheep came to believe having shepherds around was a violation of the law of just deserves.

Then the wolves showed the sheep how living under the care of shepherds led to a mentality of entitlement. Because the shepherds took care of the sheep the sheep could come to believe they were entitled to care whether they worked for it or not. The wolves pointed out a mentality of entitlement was bad for sheep who wanted to believe in individualism. They pointed out sheep who accepted the idea of entitlement no longer believed in the law of just deserves. They then reminded the sheep of how living under the care of shepherds led to a mentality of entitlement. So the sheep began to see living under the care of shepherds wasn’t so good after all.

Finally the wolves claimed there was an invisible hand that would protect the sheep far better than would the shepherds. This invisible hand made it possible for wolves and sheep to have an one on one relationship without anything bad happening to the sheep. The wolves then claimed sheep could not accept as true the idea of individualism unless they also accept the reality of the invisible hand. And the wolves then claimed sheep could not accept the truth of the law of just deserves unless one accepted as true the idea of individualism. Since the sheep were convinced of the moral truth of the law of just deserves they could not argue against the idea of individualism. Since they could not argue against the idea of individualism they could not argue against the reality of the individual hand. So the sheep found they had no choice but to trust the wolves and replace the protection of the shepherds with the protection of the invisible hand. So the sheep got rid of the shepherds and relied on the invisible hand to protect them form the wolves.

So the wolves got what they wanted. There was a one-on-one relationship between wolf and sheep. The sheep did not last long under this relationship. The invisible hand, it turned out, was no protection. The wolves simply ate the sheep. Then they moved on to find another flock they could con in the same manner.