A parable. by Fremdfirma

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

A parable.

POSTED BY: FREMDFIRMA
UPDATED: Friday, May 14, 2010 01:58
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010 5:51 PM

I want you to imagine, a ship at sea.

Now, this ship currently happens to be in desperate straits - the ships books are a mess, they're almost out of food, fuel, water, and they're lost because someone traded the charts for booze.

The former captain, mostly responsible for this, has been relieved of duty for gross negligence and incompetence, and stands accused of other charges, but in an effort to reduce friction amongst the crew, has not been confined to quarters or thrown in the brig.

He spends most of his time trying to blow holes in the bottom of the boat, unthinking or uncaring of the obvious consequences, while loudly blaming the current captain for the situation they're now in.

And worse, some of the crew believe him, despite having been witness to the slowly unfolding disaster, or even having some part of their own in causing it - and they want him back, because he looks the other way while they drink on duty, slack off maintainence requirements, and rough up less popular members of the crew.

So they also make a concerted effort to disparage the new captain, performing small acts of sabotage and loudly decrying his supposed incompetence while demanding the old captain be re-instated.

And just to make matters completely fubar - the new captain isn't very good, whatever his plan is doesn't seem to be working, and many of his supporters on the crew are too busy trying to undo the sabotage and keep the ship afloat to do their real jobs, which they don't seem much interested in besides.

And then there's you, a freakin machinists mate, a nobody and a damn propellerhead besides, already on everyones shitlist cause you dared oppose the appointment of the old captain in the first place, and supported his removal from command without supporting the new one.

Eventually, one of the new captains supporters comes to you, wants you to make him a shiv, cause seems there's only one way THIS problem is ever gonna get solved that doesn't wind up with the boat on the bottom and everyone dead.

Your damn right he gets a shiv, and I'll put as fine an edge on it as I can possibly manage.

-Frem

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Thursday, May 13, 2010 2:01 AM

DREAMTROVE

There are other issues with the boat, systematic ones.

Before the old captain, there was a piracy captain, Or a few of them, and they set the disastrous course in. Now the new captain has a lot of those pirates in his crew, Some of the ones who were not in the old captains Crew, and some of the ones who were.

This ship has a lot of passengers, as it turns out. Among these passengers may be a really talented potential crew, but the existing chimeric Crew does not want to let any of them in.

Some of us who didn't support the old captain have trouble supporting the new captain, because he is perhaps not different enough. For instance, the practice of firing rather randomly at any other ships who pass by has continued, rather than tryinnngn a practice of asking the for help, which would necessitate first not firing upon them.

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Thursday, May 13, 2010 8:29 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Yep.

But yanno, a couple shivs here, a couple folk over the rail there...

They *will* do most of the work for you, you set it up right, and no one to blame but themselves.

You know that old trick about playing on self-interest, one cuts the cake, the other chooses ?

A rather malicious version of that.

Just think it through, other peoples flaws are one of the best force multipliers there is.

-F

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Thursday, May 13, 2010 2:01 PM

DREAMTROVE

And here in was wondering when it was that you decided to save the ship at all. And not just to be cut into small rafts. Of course she was once a might fine ship, 'till we caught a fancy for thee business of having captains.

Should the ship sink to the sea floor at this point, it might be a mercy, not to say that I'm looking to jump ship just yet. I might be game to see with we can breath underwater, seeing as were taking on a fair bit of water as it is right now, and aye, I see thar we are taking on a fair number of new crew besides, but I don't understand why the new crew are necessarily help dragging us under, when they might be the ones to bail us out, as for going under, we seem to be perfectly capable of doing that ourselves.

At the very least the ship needs a radically different kind of leadership.

Cake? Captian?

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Thursday, May 13, 2010 6:01 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

And nobody seems to notice that those who could get off the ship, already did. And they took the lifeboats on their way to elsewhere.

As someone smarter than me said,

"There is no more new frontier;
We have got to make it here.

You call someplace paradise,
Kiss it goodbye..."

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Thursday, May 13, 2010 6:05 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

There are ways this " parable" could be worse, but none come to mind right now.....

Bones: "Don't 'rawr' her!"
Booth: "What? she'rawred' me first."

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Thursday, May 13, 2010 7:30 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Off the boat, well, shit, to be downright blunt about it I want off this PLANET - but currently we don't have the means and there's nowhere to go.

Besides, you don't have to sink it if you can run it aground, you know.

-F

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Friday, May 14, 2010 1:14 AM

DREAMTROVE

Maybe on some uncharted desert isle, preferable with restless natives.

The planet is pretty nice actually, like the ship, it's the people running it who are a problem.

As my sister says, there are people who fall of the boat, and you have to learn to help them back on, there are people who jump off the boat, and you have to learn to let them go, and then there are people who can't find their boat with both hands.

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Friday, May 14, 2010 1:51 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
There are ways this " parable" could be worse, but none come to mind right now.....

You being here is one...

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Friday, May 14, 2010 1:58 AM

DREAMTROVE

Oh kwicko, stick it back in you pants.

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