After Prosperous Times

Winter had been mild that year and when spring finally arrived, the jungle floor flowered into a quilt-like patch of all colors of the rainbow. The rat community thrived and squirrels danced in parties every night, getting overfed and drunk on a combination of intoxicating blooms.

Goose watched the activity around him for a week and decided to let the buffaloes come into the sequestered area to eat up some of the flowers. When he announced his plans ,however, the rodents booed his speech down. No, you can't think of allowing those clumsy smelly animals in, they will destroy the delicate forest floor.

"But six buffaloes can't destroy a whole forest. They will help keep the plants in check. That way the forest will not become congested," Goose said.

No! They hollered back. They would not allow him to do it.

Goose relented and went home.

Mrs. Goose said, "Oh, just let the problem alone. You know you can't help people who won't be helped."

"But this problem concerns all of us, my love. If the eco-system breaks down, all of us will be affected."

"You think too much. Anyway, let us deal with the problem when it happens. Trying to get these animals to see your point of view is not going to work. They want to be prosperous, not careful."

"The rodent community is growing too fast. In fact, according to Scales's calculation, the rate is five times that of the previous year, and the problem is so serious now that even the snakes are gaining too much weight for their own good."

"Ooh, better them than us, I always say," Mrs. Goose scoofed.

Goose gave out a long sigh. "I asked Snow Ears to do a research on the effect of prosperity that is left unchecked from past records. What he found is very troubling. In all cases, prosperity was followed by decadence which created a generation of non-motivated and non-skilled creatures. Yet the tide always turned in that same callous generation, a time when few would know how to cope without financial bailout."

"We will be all right," Mrs. Goose said as she climbed out of the nest. "You promised to keep the eggs warm tonight while I go out with the girls, dear, remember?"

"Yes, that's right," he said as he climbed onto the still warm eggs. "Have a nice time."

Goose fussed over the eggs every hour as he turned them then meditated on his problem, going through one idea after another. By the time Mrs. Goose returned, he had already hatched a plan.

The next morning, he called up Snow Ears and ordered him to cut all spending on education and development from his charity group, except to the poorest part of the jungle. The animals went berserk on hearing the news. They called Goose names and cursed the ground he waddled on. Goose gave them no notice, after all, he saw no reason to give away good money to animals that could afford to pay for their own education and business expansion.

Two springs passed and in the third spring, the flowers didn't bloom because population explosion had destroyed the seeds and roots of the plants. Soon the creatures were fighting each other for morsels as they began to starve. That was when Goose once more open the door of his charity. This time he employed the birds to plant seeds which he bought from the valleys. Then he assigned reptiles to guard the area and rationed out the food produced therein.

His actions incensed the rodents: He had no right, they were leaving. And they did, all the while accusing him of being a Socialist, a Communist, or even a Socialist Communist. Soon only 40% of the population remained and everyone had enough. The community began to rebuild, and by the time winter arrived everyone had collected enough food for the long months ahead. One by one Goose released them from his charity organization.

Back to List            NEXT