A cautionary tale...

Once upon a time, there was a country where the people were all very orderly and compliant. This country was run by some very powerful and important people called Fatcats and their evil henchmen, the Accountants, and everything was done to squeeze as much out of the assets as could be.

Some of the cleverer people were unhappy with this state of affairs, because they never had any choice. Almost every restaurant offered the same tiny menu, and none of the food was very good. It cost more than it ought to, as well, but most of the people were too well-behaved or ignorant to complain. Once in a while, a more enterprising individual would make some tasty and interesting food, but the Fatcats usually put a stop to that, such was their power. They owned most of the restaurants and made virtually all of the food, so the little people never had much of a chance to make any difference. The Fatcats said there was no demand for good food, and carried on shouting louder and louder about the (tasteless and dreary) stuff they were producing.

This is the kind of story, you will be thinking, that needs a hero. In fact, it has four.

Four farsighted and idealistic individuals were complaining about the rotten food and the lack of choice one day. They said how bad it was that grub wasn’t like it used to be, and you couldn’t get a decent meal any more. It filled you up, but it was bland and filled you with gas. Being scribes, they decided to have a go at writing the truth about the wicked ways of the Fatcats. Amazingly, more and more people read their messages, and in no time at all, thousands of them were campaigning for Real Grub, and raising the awareness of the population.

Soon, it seemed as though victory might be theirs. The Fatcats saw that people did want Real Grub and a choice of meals.

But the Fatcats were clever as well as wicked. Cynically the Fatcats shouted about Real Grub, but still made lots of bad food and only improved the choice on the menu a little. The Campaign for Real Grub carried on working hard, and lots of people joined in. Most of the brighter people just sought out the few restaurants where the independent cooks were to be found, and had a fine old time enjoying gourmet meals for less than the cost of gruel.

Sadly most of the population was just too gullible, and went on listening to the honeyed words of the Fatcats, grimly parting with their hard-earned groats for the same old rubbish. The Fatcats were so powerful that nothing could dislodge them.

It seems that if you are a Fatcat, you can fool most of the people all of the time .