Back in 1837 (long before most of you were born), Hans Christian Andersen wrote a story entitled
The Emperor's New Clothes. If you're not familiar with the story, here's the Reader's Digest condensed version, courtesy of
Wikipedia:
An emperor of a prosperous city who cares more about clothes than military pursuits or entertainment hires two swindlers who promise him the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The Emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime. The Emperor then goes on a procession through the capital showing off his new "clothes". During the course of the procession, a small child cries out, "But he has nothing on!" The crowd realizes the child is telling the truth. The Emperor, however, holds his head high and continues the procession.
Although a classic in its own right, the story clearly needs updating.
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Once upon a time, a leader ascended to the post of emperor of the mightiest nation in the world. The nation was not mighty because of wealth or military power, but because of its belief in freedom and liberty, and its great willingness to share these ideals with any other nation who expressed a similar interest. The leader came from a people who had been enslaved long ago, though no one in his personal ancestry had been a slave, and in fact, a few had been slave owners.
The new emperor was an outstanding orator, commanding great throngs of followers and innumerable leg-tingles wherever he went. He swept into office, promising hope and change, as the people of the nation were experiencing some difficulties in their daily lives. Oddly, the ministers he appointed were men and women who perceived the law as somehow not applicable to them, when it came to paying their duties.
The people were unsure as to whether this was "hope" or "change".
The emperor felt it necessary to bow down to leaders of lesser nations, to treat horrible tyrants as equals, and to apologize for his own nation's greatness. There was a small faction of people in the land who thought being great was something to be ashamed of, and the emperor had fallen in with this line of thought.
When a merchant vessel from this great land was set upon by pirates, the emperor's naval forces waited for several days before rescuing the kidnapped captain. Hope, perchance?
Several hundred prisoners were being held far from the great nation. These prisoners had vowed to lay waste to this nation, killing as many of its citizens as they could. They were held at such a distance in order to keep the nation's people safe. However, the emperor, no doubt acting on poor advice from his ministers, first said he would close this prison and bring these prisoners into the nation; then later realized what a serious mistake this would be, and reversed his decision.
The emperor nobly decided that the government would guarantee medical services for all of its citizens. Someone neglected to tell him that the vast majority of the people already had medical services and were content, and of the small number who did not, most of these were either those who chose not to pay for medical services, or those who had snuck into the nation illegally.
Another goal the emperor had was to ensure that the people of the nation paid a proper price for their consumption of energy. It seems that the emperor had forgotten that the people were experiencing very difficult financial times, more so than they had seen in decades. This so-called "proper price" evolved from a theory about the end of the world concocted by a few scientists and fomented by a crazed former deputy leader of the nation, although no one had been able to prove that it was anything more than a theory.
While the emperor was working on getting into office, he was highly praised for his education and his intelligence, even though he had extremely little experience leading anyone or governing anything. Seemingly the people of the nation had ignored this, as it was the latest inconvenient truth. So, it should have been no surprise when a small child (or not so small), upon witnessing this unending series of blunders, eventually cried out, "
The emperor has no savvy!"
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(The ending of this story has not yet been written... however, all of us children should
CONTINUE to cry out!!!)
It's amazing how, even in their time of grief, a family who has just lost a loved one, can still retain their clarity and their presence of mind. (You may have to click on the image to see it better.)
