By Loren Adams - February 11, 2009
Once upon a time... there was a wealthy kingdom -- the most
prosperous in all the world. It was called "Enterprise" -- so
named for much commerce and the trading of goods around the globe.
And because the kingdom was separated from others by vast oceans, its citizens
mistakenly felt secure from foreign invaders. The subjects boasted, "Was
there ever a great kingdom like ours -- so rich and so free? Are we not
the most powerful nation that would ever hope to be? Are we not God's special
people? Surely, because of our vast army, great commerce and shielding seas,
Enterprise shall never see sorrow, destruction and poverty! Our brave country
sits as a queen and has no foreign intruders seen. And so has shall it ever
be."
And the merchants of the world agreed with the kingdom's
subjects and said, "No other nation has become the center of the world
like this. Where else can we trade great cargoes of gold, textiles, wood, iron,
oil, fine flour, cattle, carriages, and the labor of men?"
The entire world marveled at the speedy rise of Enterprise
and invested heavily in her commerce. Furthermore, the kingdom became the
center of the world's diplomatic corps who sojourned from every corner of the
planet to Gotham City -- the largest metropolis of Enterprise.
It was, indeed, the greatest nation that ever existed in the history of
mankind.
Then one year at the turn of the Millennium an arrogant,
incompetent king rose to power -- although not by honest means, but by deceit.
King George was heir to the Dynasty of Arbusto which viewed the throne as a
family entitlement rather than a service.
It was King George's ambition to reign with full control
rather than submit to Parliament -- which he described as simply as an
"obstruction." So, the king met in secret with his closest
advisors and schemed to stage a war against a lesser kingdom. The war would be
just an avenue to manipulate and acquire more control over his own people --
erasing hundreds of years of civil liberties with a swift stroke of the quill.
The advisors and counselors realized the kingdom's subjects
would disagree to an unprovoked war. So, they felt compelled to allow
Enterprise to be attacked by a band of pirates which represented no land at all
in order to legitimize an invasion of the unrelated weak kingdom with more
"desirable targets."
Then one day this contracted band of raiders infiltrated
Gotham City -- burning two of the tallest towers in the world and killing
thousands of Enterprise's subjects. King George, of course, was away to a
distant peninsula reading a storybook about pet goats to little children -- far
from danger, of course, by secret scheme.
And so it was that the Kingdom of Enterprise was diverted
into an unnecessary war against a lesser kingdom which was not complicit to the
attack nor to acquisition of weapons of mass destruction -- yet served to
fulfill the wishes of the king to amass more control over his subjects -- while
at the same time exploiting the mineral wealth of the defeated land.
On the other hand, the raiders remained on the loose,
purposely protected by the king on a rugged mountain range. Over time, the
raiders were allowed to reorganize, increase in size and strength. For the
incompetent king had diverted the kingdom's resources and military might to
fight an unprovoked war unrelated to the pirates' attack.
The foolish king also enlisted the help of religious clerics
from the Church of Laodicea to deceive millions of parishioners into believing
the unprovoked was provoked and their Messiah sanctioned war, not peace --
while the contract attackers' origins were portrayed irrelevant. A bait and
switch King George committed without pause. It was an act of treason for sure.
But the men of the cloth were bought -- They sold their souls for filthy lucre
-- to exchange 30 pieces of silver for the nation's kiss of death. Their
ulterior motive was only to enlarge their parishes and power. False prophets
indeed were they. The god of mammon had corrupted their souls and thus every fiber
of the kingdom.
Thus, the king's army seized the lesser land with great
speed, shock and awe. All was for show, none for the people's interest in
either land. For it was a war built on deceit rather than truth, and nothing
mattered more to the pompous, foolish king than praise from the populace, even
if temporary, soon to vaporize upon truth's mirror.
King George next proclaimed throughout the land how he had
vanquished the evil raiders by destroying an unrelated lesser land. He boasted,
"Mission accomplished! Because of my reign, Enterprise is more secure and
free. Peace and safety you can see! So, praise be unto me. I can now establish
my legacy to be."
And the people were deceived by the false prophets who
parroted the foolish ruler's vain words -- believing they were safer because of
King George, whom they called "the man of courage & character and --
foremost -- the MAN OF GOD."
The king's subjects thus believed a lie and were damned, as
the prophets of old forewarned. Only a remnant of the populace recognized the
deceit and were called "the very elect." But they were reviled by the
recipients of deception who declared them angry, unpatriotic souls. Yet, truly,
dissidents were the enlightened and continued in the knowledge of the truth --
insistent that the Kingdom was nearing its end, terminated by weapons of mass
deception.
For suddenly, without politicized color-code warning, the
pirates struck again -- this time leveling the great city -- whose citizens had
boasted, "My city sits a queen; she is not a widow who has ever
mourned." But despite such certainty of peace and security, sudden
destruction fell upon them as labor pains on a woman with child, and they were
unable to escape this time -- the devastation was so swift and sure.
And all the world wept at the fall of the great city,
saying, "Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and
scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! That great city
with which the whole world traded! That great city, the center of great
artists, musicians and entertainers! In one hour such great wealth has been
brought to naught!"
And even the ship captains from afar at sea who saw the
smoke and burning exclaimed, "Was there ever a great city like this? All
has vanished in one hour! We cannot venture close because of dangerous vapors,
but the visual distress is almost too much to bear."
The smoke of Gotham's fire filled earth's sky for one year,
the devastation was so vast.
And the global economy collapsed that day -- only because the foolish king
plotted to take dictatorial power, deceived his people, and diverted the
nation's treasure into the unnecessary while neglecting the clear and present
danger and the people's best interest.
The Kingdom of Enterprise no longer was the world's
greatest; for the mad king had sacrificed her upon the altar of greed, deceit
and corruption. And though another more princely prince succeeded, the effects
of King George forever damaged the land. 