The Parable of the Riggers Watching Pressure Rise

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, has the power ration between the people and the corporatocracy reached a tipping point?”

Josh spoke thus:

Two riggers were watching the numbers.

“This pressure is unsustainable,” one rigger said, “The system won’t hold.”

“You don’t know the system like I know the system,” the second rigger said, “There’s plenty of room yet.”

“But you’ve gerry-rigged the system,” the first rigger said.

“I adapted the system to our needs,” the second rigger said.

“You know the Inspector is going to see how we’ve rigged the system,” the first rigger said.

“The Inspector doesn’t have time to worry about us,” the second rigger said, “The Inspector is overloaded.  It’s not like we’re the only ones rigging our system.”

“Look what happened in the Gulf region,” the first rigger said, “Look what happened in Texas.”

“Those were different issues,” the second rigger said, “Those people didn’t have their systems set up properly.  Our system is foolproof.  Besides, our representatives will have the Inspector tied up in paperwork for months.”

“No system is foolproof,” the first rigger said, “Not when there’s this much pressure involved.”

“You look,” the second rigger said, “The pressure will subside.  In six months, nobody will remember how high the pressure got.”

“Six months?” the first rigger said, “We’re supposed to sit here and weather out six months of this kind of pressure?  I don’t know about you, but I think it might be a good idea to jump ship soon.”

“And jump where?” the second rigger asked, “The sharks would have you in five minutes.  There’s no lifeboat when you jump ship.  And there’s no parachute.  It’s a long way down, and you’ll hit hard when you hit.  So take your choice, the fall or the sharks.  Either way, there’s no survival.”

“Couldn’t we just set the system up the way the system was originally set up?” the first rigger asked, “There’s a reason why the system was set up like it was, isn’t there?”

“If we set the system up the way it was originally set up, the pressure would be much worse,” the second rigger said, “The slave system was never sustainable.”

“So what’s the difference between the slave system and what we have set up now?” the first rigger asked.

The second rigger replied, “Under this system, they can vote.  Their vote is meaningless, but at least they can vote.  That’s a step up, isn’t it?”

“I’m not sure I like politics anymore,” the first rigger said.

“You’re in up to your neck now,” the second rigger said, “You drew up these district lines as much as I did.”

“I know, I know,” the first rigger said, “The fall or the sharks.”