A parable about power, promises, and the silence of benefactors
🌑 The Lantern’s Fall
Once upon a time, in a province where storms often tested the patience of its people, there was a lantern. It flickered, imperfect, sometimes late to shine, but it was the familiar keeper of light.
Then came the torch. It did not arrive to share the glow—it arrived to replace. With banners and speeches, the torch was paraded as salvation. The lantern was framed as the villain, its flaws magnified, its failures rehearsed.
A plebiscite was staged. The chorus of scribes and politicians sang in unison, and the people were told: “The torch is brighter, steadier, the future.” And so the lantern was ousted—not by storm nor by choice, but by a takeover dressed as progress.
🌬️ The Storm Test
Soon after, a great wind swept through the province, rattling roofs and bending trees. The torch, despite its promises, sputtered. Its glow was mediocre, dimmer than the grand speeches had foretold.
The scribes who once shouted against the lantern now wrote softly, gently, as if the torch’s failures were but minor inconveniences. Their ink seemed watered down—perhaps by benefactors, perhaps by seasonal gifts.
The politicians, once loud in their condemnation, now sat in silence. After all, they had already enjoyed their trips abroad, their rewards, their share of the torch’s triumph. Why risk speaking against the hand that fed them?
🗣️ The Parrot Politician
Among them was one politician who loved to parrot clever lines from others, posting them for applause in the town square of opinion.
Today, the parrot struts and squawks against the torch, emboldened because its own perch is not yet under the torch’s shadow. It repeats borrowed wisdom, loud enough for applause in the marketplace of ideas.
But tomorrow, when the torch’s glow reaches the parrot’s own branch, the melody will soften. For parrots do not compose their own songs—they simply echo whatever voice ensures they are fed.
⚖️ The Parable’s Lesson
The people of the province learned something old yet new:
- Power is not about light, but about who controls the story of light.
- The lantern was ousted not for its weakness, but because the torch had benefactors.
- The torch, when tested, proved ordinary—but the silence of its allies was extraordinary.
And so the kingdom continues, not with brighter light, but with dimmer truths.
📢 Viral Takeaway
In the age of staged plebiscites and paid scribes, the real power play is not who keeps the lights on, but who decides which failures deserve headlines.
Sometimes, the brightest torch is just a lantern with better PR.
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