September, 2012

Once Upon a Time, in a land not so far away, a land that was blessed with great mountains that had never been crossed, vast forests that had not been harvested, and fertile prairies that had yet to be farmed, a land that had untamed rivers which had never been navigated and untouched natural resources that had not even been discovered, a land which possessed untold riches, and a place where your wildest dreams could come true if you were willing to work,… to this very fortunate place there came hard times. And these hard times forced the people of this land to make some very difficult decisions. They had to choose between their history and traditions which had always stood them well before, and a completely new and different direction which had never before been tried, but one which many citizens claimed would lead them back to prosperity. There were some that blamed their current problems on their Nation's leaders, past and present, and that blamed the “old ways” for bringing on their current misfortune, but there were wiser minds that counseled not to abandon the old ways so fast.

Into the midst of this controversy there came a Dark Knight who swept across the land like the optimistic promises of spring! He could seemingly do no wrong. With his eloquent words and lofty rhetoric he lifted up their spirits and he urged the people to go forward down this new and unfamiliar path. As he spoke of wonderful things he won the hearts of many of the women and children of the land, but many of the men remained unconvinced and suspicious. Yet no one could say anything against him, or utter one negative word about him. He wove a great spell that captured the entire nation. His goal was to win over the hearts and minds of enough of the people to become their leader, and then he intended to fundamentally transform their lives forever! This was the hope and change that he promised! And this was the hope and change that the people of the land came to believe in. 

They believed he would solve their unemployment woes. They believed he would solve their economic woes. They believed he would restore prosperity to their troubled land. There was no basis or rationale for their belief in this individual, nor for any of the false hopes that they placed in him! He never had a job that showed that he could do any of the things that he was promising. He never managed a successful company before where he had demonstrated the ability or the expertise to actually accomplish what he was trying to do. He didn’t have any practical experience at anything that could possibly help him solve the nation’s woes. Nevertheless people still believed in him, and based upon their belief they entrusted their future to him and the future of their entire country! But the hope and change that he promised never came. He did not deliver on most of his promises! His optimistic plans fell far short of their expectations. And all of the broken promises that he never kept, and all of the unrealized dreams that were never fulfilled became far too much for the people of this land to bear.

So they organized themselves into small groups, in order to remove this false messiah from power, to free themselves from this phony deliverer who didn't really deliver, and to return their country back to the old and trusted ways. The Dark Knight still has his followers in the land though, and it will not be an easy task to unseat him, but there are a growing number of people in the land who have their eyes wide open, and they are just as determined as their opponents are. They intend to remove this phony deliverer from his position of authority over their land and over their lives.
By Scott Rohter and Paula Bunyard