Once Upon a Time On a Pretty Blue Rock Part 2

part 2

Once upon a time there was a pretty blue planet on a far corner of the universe that was divided up into strange little parcels. Some places on the rock were so spread out that people didn’t have to live all crammed up. And then there were places that crammed as many people as possible into as small an area as possible. Not very conducive for these monkeys to live peacefully together.

One such parcel was a strange little place crammed into a corner of 3 continents that had a sea on one side and a piddling little creek on the other, but no noticeable natural delineation on the top or bottom. And the stupid monkeys couldn’t even agree if the piddling little creek was actually a border or if the land close to it belonged to a different group of monkeys. Worse, there are lots of monkeys who are all pretty similar, but still bicker over groups, species, sub species and sub sub species. A bunch of rock-apes.

It was never quiet in this part of the blue rock. Someone was either getting nailed to a bit of wood, finding more efficient and destructive ways to chuck things at each other, blow each other up, hurl insults and just cause mayhem for the “fun” of it. And it’s always been this way there. Go figure.

Now it’s not to say there are no achievements. They are experts in starting up, inventing stuff and telling others how clever they are. Others often believe them. But these strange little monkeys are not very good at getting organized. If on the big island, Minority Report was the favoured film, here it’s Groundhog Day. Every few months they all take a day off so they can march down to a booth and put a piece of paper into a box with the name of someone who they least dislike on it. The deck is shuffled in a slightly different way but the same monkey keeps winning. A sad version of a great film.

They don’t like their neighbours very much. I guess that happens when your neighbours don’t like you. Especially if you keep arguing over creeks, sand and rubble. But then again, they don’t really like each other very much. Some of the inhabitants think they have the high moral ground by adhering to 3000 year old texts more extremely than others, but don’t seem to realise that they have well and truly occupied the lower ground. Lack of decency, morals, collective responsibility towards others that are not part of their sub, sub, sub tribe and total distortion of these same ancient texts have led to the destruction of any semblance of societal cohesion. And it’s not as if the society was so cohesive beforehand.  Within the borders of this random little tribal area, there are lots of smaller areas, sort of like a jigsaw puzzle within a jigsaw puzzle. There’s a fun big city and a few other smaller cities where people generally get on, generally let others get on with what they want to do, who they want to sleep or live with, have lots of culture, great food and things to do. Other places are a bit less fun. A bit less tolerant. A bit poorer. And a lot darker.

Pushing in, shouting, bad manners and stiff-neckedness (go check the bible for that one) seemed to be a thing of national pride, everywhere, amongst all the tribes. Warmth, vibrancy, creativity, caring and the Land of Milk and Honey (one good biblical description deserves another) might just have weighed the bad stuff out. If only they all could just get on.

And when a world threatening virus hit, well, how do I put it? Perhaps the word disaster is a little mild, but I have always been known for my demure and understated descriptions. A total lack of discipline, both personal and societal, was way too much to expect. Boss monkey, his underlings and everyone else can’t agree what to do. And even if a decision is made, it is ignored by many of the larger tribes.

And yet…no. There is no And yet. This sad little parcel of land, which has never found peace these past 3000 years, seems destined to wallow in its history and end its life loudly and unceremoniously. Pity. Because the And yet could have held so much promise.

No place is perfect on this pretty blue rock. Maybe that’s the nature of the monkeys that live on it. But some places are definitely more imperfect than others.