An Allegory?

Once upon a time there was a village. It was called, “Voters Village.” The citizens of Voters Village were very regular people. Three of those people found themselves one chilly Saturday night sitting at their favorite spot – The Red White and Blue Tavern. One was Richie. He and his family had been farming the same land for generations. The second was Eddie. He was the third generation in his family to work in the mines. The last one was Billy. He ran the local auto shop. They were very good friends. They felt good about each other because they each had basically the same opinions about just about everything. 

Well, this one Saturday night, after more than a few beers, the three of them started to talk about the Village.  

“I don’t remember when stuff was ever this bad,” said Richie.

“You are so right,” answered Eddie. 

“Fuckin’ A,” added Billy, “Like they say, ‘we’re goin’ to hell in a handbasket.’ Let me tell you what happened to Mary, you know, she’s my ten-year-old. Well, she’s at school and she has to, well, relieve herself. So, of course she goes to the Girls room. Well, who should walk in? I bet you know.”

Eddie answered quickly. “I bet I do. I bet it was another kid, but with a cock.” 

“Of course it was,” Eddie quickly answered. “I don’t know what the rules are anymore. I don’t even know if we have any?”

Then Richie spoke. “I’m not too old to remember when people like us made the rules.  Oh, they tell us that we still do. They keep saying, ‘well just vote and you can change things’. Bullshit. We vote but our one vote means crap compared the power that the media has to tell people what to believe, or what the snowflake teachers tell the kids. They push this woke shit all the time.”

Billy chimed in, “I mean it’s just stupid. Boys marrying boys. The songs by ‘you know who’. I can’t understand them, but I’m told they’re all about killing us. Oh, and there’s the how all of the ‘you-know-who’s’ get all the advantages all the time. ‘Affirmative Action’ my ass. How about earning something. And now it’s not just the ‘you-know-who’s’, but worse, it’s the illegals, the foreigners, who, by the way, also look like the ‘you-know-who’s’. Look, I bid on a commercial contract last week. I know I was the low bid because the buyer’s assistant leaked it to me. But did I get it? Of course not. Why? They had to give it to a higher bidder who was, of course, the preferable color.

Then it was Eddie’s turn, “And don’t get me started about how we can’t even tell a broad how good her ass looks or we’re going to get our own asses sued. What’s wrong with a fucking compliment? Jesus, what’s happened to this Village, guys? Why does everything have to change? What was wrong with the way it used to be? What was wrong with the rules when we made ‘em. We knew how the world worked and that was good enough for us.”

Then no one said anything. By this time, they were the only three in the bar. The owner had gone home. He trusted these three to lock up when they left. People were like that in Voters Village.

After the pause, Richie said quietly and wistfully, “If only there was someone we could look to who understood us and could give us what we want.

At that very moment, the door to the bar swung open and in stepped a stranger. He was tall but hunched over. He was clearly overweight, but he tried to hide it with a big, black overcoat even though it wasn’t cold out. What was most striking was his strangely orange hue. 

“Hello,” he said, stepping in as if he owned the place, which he clearly didn’t. “I’m here to save you and the rest of the Village. I know and I understand your problems.” Then, after a brief pause, he went on.

“We have the worst trade deals in the history of the Village.  We gave away our Village, but we’re taking it back for our workers, for our companies, for our jobs, for our money, for our taxes.  It’s incredible.”

Eddie, Richie and Billy looked at each other. They knew nothing about trade deals, but if that was why the world was changing, then they must be a problem. They smiled. They started to get excited. Then the orange stranger went on. What he said next really got them going.

“And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you guys about the immigration invasion. You can see it for yourself. Animals coming to the Village from all parts of the world. What are we getting? We’re getting the worst. They’re murderers and rapists. They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live here, and it’s a shame and it has to stop.”

Eddie, Richie and Billy were now at the edge of their barstools. They hadn’t heard of anyone eating any pets but, no matter. They knew that all the immigrants looked and talked differently, so maybe they did eat pets. This orange stranger was making a lot of sense. Finally, someone was able to explain to them why the world they once loved was now changing into something so different and he was also offering a way to get it back to the way it was.

“All of this is Village-changing,” the orange stranger continued, “it’s Village-threatening, and it’s Village-wrecking. They have wrecked our Village and I alone can fix it.”

At this point, Eddie, Richie and Billy were on their feet, applauding wildly.

Soon after the visit of the orange man, he was in charge of the Village. Eddie, Richie and Billy had helped convince a majority of the Village to make him their leader.. They were so thrilled that they didn’t even mind when their orange leader grabbed more power than any Village leader had ever grabbed. They didn’t even mind when virtually nothing that their orange leader said turned out to be true. They didn’t even mind when their orange leader began painting everything in the Village orange and naming it after himself. And they didn’t even mind, at first, when their orange leader began rounding up people in the Village just because he didn’t like them. 

But then, their orange leader rounded up a friend of Eddie’s, and then an uncle of Richie’s and then Billy’s son.  This was a step too far for Eddie, Richie and Billy. Now they were angry. They wanted to do something. They wanted to complain. 

But they couldn’t. Anyone who complained was also rounded up. They realize that they had been fooled. But it was too late to do anything about it. 

If only they had realized in time.