FW: Once Upon a Town -- Welcome to Allopath
Hilary Jackson
A rather brilliant commentary on health & healing.... bound to promote some
interesting discussion with our kids...
Warm thoughts
Hilary
Sunday, June 19, 2005 <http://www.newstarget.com/008674.html>
http://www.newstarget.com/008674.html
Welcome to the town of Allopath
There once was a town called Allopath. It had many people, streets and cars,
but due to budget limitations, there were no stop signs or traffic lights
anywhere in Allopath.
Not surprisingly, traffic accidents were common. Cars would crash into each
other at nearly every intersection. But business was booming for the auto
repair shops and local hospitals, which dominated the
<http://www.newstarget.com/002268.html> economy of Allopath.
As the population of Allopath grew, traffic accidents increased to an
alarming level. Out of desperation, the city council hired Doctor West, a
doctor of the Motor Division (M.D.) to find a solution.
Dr. West spent days examining traffic accidents. He carried an assortment of
technical gear -- microscopes, chemical analysis equipment, lab gear -- and
put them all to work as part of his investigation. The townspeople of
Allopath watched on with great curiosity while Dr. West went about his work,
meticulously documenting and analyzing each traffic accident, and they
awaited his final report with great interest.
After weeks of investigation, Dr. West called the people of Allopath to a
town meeting for the release of his report. There, in front of the city
council and most of the residents of Allopath, he announced his findings:
"Traffic accidents are caused by skid marks."
As Dr. West explained, he found and documented a near-100% correlation
between traffic accidents and skid marks. "Wherever we find these cars
colliding," he explained, "we also find these skid marks."
The town had "Skid Marks Disease," the doctor explained, and the answer to
the town's epidemic of traffic accidents would, "...require nothing more
than treating Skid Marks Disease by making the streets skid-proof," Dr. West
exclaimed, to great applause from the townspeople.
The city paid Dr. West his consulting fee, then asked the good doctor to
propose a method for treating this Skid Marks Disease. As chance would have
it, Dr. West had recently been on a trip to Hawaii paid for by a chemical
company that manufactured roadaceuticals: special chemicals used to treat
roads for situations just like this one. He recommended a particular
chemical coating to the city council: teflon.
"We can treat this Skid Marks Disease by coating the roads with teflon," Dr.
West explained. "The streets will then be skid-proof, and all the traffic
accidents will cease!" He went on to describe the physical properties of
teflon and how its near-frictionless coating would deter nearly all vehicle
skids.
The city council heartily agreed with Dr. West, and they issued new public
bonds to raise the money required to buy enough teflon to coat all the
city's streets. Within weeks, the streets were completely coated, and the
skid marks all but disappeared.
The city council paid Dr. West another consulting fee and thanked him for
his expertise. The problem of traffic accidents in Allopath was solved, they
thought. Although the cure was expensive, they were convinced it was worth
it.
But things weren't well in Allopath. Traffic accidents quadrupled. Hospital
beds were overflowing with injured residents. Auto repair businesses were
booming so much that most of the city council members decided to either open
their own car repair shops or invest in existing ones.
Week after week, more and more residents of Allopath were injured, and their
cars were repeatedly damaged. Money piled into the pockets of the car repair
shops, hospitals, tow truck companies and car parts retailers.
The town economic advisor, observing this sharp increase in economic
activity, announced that Allopath was booming. Its economy was healthier
than ever, and Allopath could look forward to a great year of economic
prosperity!
There were jobs to be had at the car repair shops. There were more nurses
needed at the hospital. "Help wanted" signs appeared all over town at the
paramedic station, the tow truck shops, and the auto glass businesses.
Unemployment dropped to near zero.
But the traffic accidents continued to increase. And yet there were no skid
marks.
The city council was baffled. They thought they had solved this problem.
Skid Marks Disease had been eradicated by the teflon treatment. Why were
traffic accidents still happening?
They called a town meeting to discuss the problem, and following a short
discussion of the problem, an old hermit, who lived in the forest just
outside of Allopath, addressed the townspeople. "There is no such thing as
Skid Marks Disease," he explained. "This disease was invented by the
roadaceuticals company to sell you teflon coatings."
The townspeople were horrified to hear such a statement. They knew Skid
Marks Disease existed. The doctor had told them so. How could this hermit,
who had no Motor Division (M.D.) degree, dare tell them otherwise? How could
he question their collective town wisdom in such a way?
"This is a simple problem," the hermit continued. "All we need to do is
build stop signs and traffic lights. Then the traffic accidents will cease."
Without pause, one city council member remarked, "But how can we afford stop
signs? We've spent all our money on teflon treatments!"
The townspeople agreed. They had no money to buy stop signs.
Another council member added, "And how can we stop anyway? The streets are
all coated with teflon. If we build stop signs, we'll waste all the money
we've spent on teflon!"
The townspeople agreed, again. What use were stop signs if they couldn't
stop their cars anyway?
The hermit replied, "But the stop signs will eliminate the need for teflon.
People will be able to stop their cars, and accidents will cease. The
solution is simple."
But what might happen if stop signs actually worked, the townspeople
wondered. How would it affect the booming economy of Allopath? Realizing the
consequences, a burly old man who owned a local repair shop jumped to his
feet and said, "If we build these stop signs, and traffic accidents go down,
I'll have to fire most of my workers!"
It was at that moment that most of the townspeople realized there own jobs
were at stake. If stop signs were built, nearly everyone would be
unemployed. They all had jobs in emergency response services, car repair
shops, hospitals and teflon coating maintenance. Some were now sales
representatives of the roadaceuticals company. Others were importers of
glass, tires, steel and other parts for cars. A few clever people were
making a fortune selling wheelchairs and crutches to accident victims.
One enterprising young gentleman started a scientific journal that published
research papers describing all the different kind of Skid Marks Diseases
that had been observed and documented. Another person, a
<http://www.newstarget.com/006746.html> fitness enthusiast, organized an
annual run to raise funds to find the cure for Skid Marks Disease. It was a
popular event, and all the townspeople participated as best they could:
jogging, walking, or just pushing themselves along in their wheelchairs.
One way or another, nearly everyone in Allopath was economically tied to
Skid Marks Disease.
Out of fear of losing this economic prosperity, the townspeople voted to
create a new public safety agency: the Frequent Drivers Association (FDA).
This FDA would be responsible for approving or rejecting all signage,
technology and chemical coatings related to the town's roads.
The FDA's board members were chosen from among the business leaders of the
community: the owner of the car shop, the owner of the ambulance company,
and of course, Dr. West.
Soon after its inception, the FDA announced that Skid Marks Disease was,
indeed, very real, as it had been carefully documented by a doctor and
recently published in the town Skid Marks Disease journal. Since there were
no studies whatsoever showing stop signs to be effective for reducing
traffic accidents, the FDA announced that stop signs were to be outlawed,
and that any person attempting to sell stop signs would be charged with
fraud and locked up in the town jail.
This pleased the townspeople of Allopath. With the FDA, they knew their jobs
were safe. They could go on living their lives of economic prosperity, with
secure jobs, knowing that the FDA would outlaw any attempt to take away
their livelihood. They still had a lot of traffic accidents, but at least
their jobs were secure.
And so life continued in Allopath. For a short while, at least. As traffic
accidents continued at a devastating rate, more and more residents of
Allopath were injured or killed. Many were left bed-ridden, unable to work,
due to their injuries.
In time, the population dwindled. The once-booming town of Allopath
eventually became little more than a ghost town. The hospital closed its
doors, the FDA was disbanded, and the Skid Marks Disease journal stopped
printing.
The few residents remaining eventually realized nothing good had come of
Skid Marks Disease, the teflon coatings and the FDA. No one was any better
off, as all the town's money had been spent on the disease: the teflon
coatings, car parts and emergency services. No one was any healthier, or
happier, or longer-lived. Most, in fact, had lost their entire families to
Skid Marks Disease.
And the hermit? He continued to live just outside of town, at the end of a
winding country road, where he lived a simple life with no cars, no roads,
no teflon coatings and no FDA.
He outlived every single resident of Allopath. He gardened, took long walks
through the forest, and gathered roots, leaves and berries to feed himself.
In his spare time, he constructed stop signs, waiting for the next
population to come along, and hoping they might listen to an old hermit with
a crazy idea:
...that prevention is the answer, not the treatment of symptoms.
This fable was authored by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger. You may reprint or
repost, as long as appropriate credit is given to Mike Adams at
<http://www.newstarget.com/> www.NewsTarget.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
interesting discussion with our kids...
Warm thoughts
Hilary
Sunday, June 19, 2005 <http://www.newstarget.com/008674.html>
http://www.newstarget.com/008674.html
Welcome to the town of Allopath
There once was a town called Allopath. It had many people, streets and cars,
but due to budget limitations, there were no stop signs or traffic lights
anywhere in Allopath.
Not surprisingly, traffic accidents were common. Cars would crash into each
other at nearly every intersection. But business was booming for the auto
repair shops and local hospitals, which dominated the
<http://www.newstarget.com/002268.html> economy of Allopath.
As the population of Allopath grew, traffic accidents increased to an
alarming level. Out of desperation, the city council hired Doctor West, a
doctor of the Motor Division (M.D.) to find a solution.
Dr. West spent days examining traffic accidents. He carried an assortment of
technical gear -- microscopes, chemical analysis equipment, lab gear -- and
put them all to work as part of his investigation. The townspeople of
Allopath watched on with great curiosity while Dr. West went about his work,
meticulously documenting and analyzing each traffic accident, and they
awaited his final report with great interest.
After weeks of investigation, Dr. West called the people of Allopath to a
town meeting for the release of his report. There, in front of the city
council and most of the residents of Allopath, he announced his findings:
"Traffic accidents are caused by skid marks."
As Dr. West explained, he found and documented a near-100% correlation
between traffic accidents and skid marks. "Wherever we find these cars
colliding," he explained, "we also find these skid marks."
The town had "Skid Marks Disease," the doctor explained, and the answer to
the town's epidemic of traffic accidents would, "...require nothing more
than treating Skid Marks Disease by making the streets skid-proof," Dr. West
exclaimed, to great applause from the townspeople.
The city paid Dr. West his consulting fee, then asked the good doctor to
propose a method for treating this Skid Marks Disease. As chance would have
it, Dr. West had recently been on a trip to Hawaii paid for by a chemical
company that manufactured roadaceuticals: special chemicals used to treat
roads for situations just like this one. He recommended a particular
chemical coating to the city council: teflon.
"We can treat this Skid Marks Disease by coating the roads with teflon," Dr.
West explained. "The streets will then be skid-proof, and all the traffic
accidents will cease!" He went on to describe the physical properties of
teflon and how its near-frictionless coating would deter nearly all vehicle
skids.
The city council heartily agreed with Dr. West, and they issued new public
bonds to raise the money required to buy enough teflon to coat all the
city's streets. Within weeks, the streets were completely coated, and the
skid marks all but disappeared.
The city council paid Dr. West another consulting fee and thanked him for
his expertise. The problem of traffic accidents in Allopath was solved, they
thought. Although the cure was expensive, they were convinced it was worth
it.
But things weren't well in Allopath. Traffic accidents quadrupled. Hospital
beds were overflowing with injured residents. Auto repair businesses were
booming so much that most of the city council members decided to either open
their own car repair shops or invest in existing ones.
Week after week, more and more residents of Allopath were injured, and their
cars were repeatedly damaged. Money piled into the pockets of the car repair
shops, hospitals, tow truck companies and car parts retailers.
The town economic advisor, observing this sharp increase in economic
activity, announced that Allopath was booming. Its economy was healthier
than ever, and Allopath could look forward to a great year of economic
prosperity!
There were jobs to be had at the car repair shops. There were more nurses
needed at the hospital. "Help wanted" signs appeared all over town at the
paramedic station, the tow truck shops, and the auto glass businesses.
Unemployment dropped to near zero.
But the traffic accidents continued to increase. And yet there were no skid
marks.
The city council was baffled. They thought they had solved this problem.
Skid Marks Disease had been eradicated by the teflon treatment. Why were
traffic accidents still happening?
They called a town meeting to discuss the problem, and following a short
discussion of the problem, an old hermit, who lived in the forest just
outside of Allopath, addressed the townspeople. "There is no such thing as
Skid Marks Disease," he explained. "This disease was invented by the
roadaceuticals company to sell you teflon coatings."
The townspeople were horrified to hear such a statement. They knew Skid
Marks Disease existed. The doctor had told them so. How could this hermit,
who had no Motor Division (M.D.) degree, dare tell them otherwise? How could
he question their collective town wisdom in such a way?
"This is a simple problem," the hermit continued. "All we need to do is
build stop signs and traffic lights. Then the traffic accidents will cease."
Without pause, one city council member remarked, "But how can we afford stop
signs? We've spent all our money on teflon treatments!"
The townspeople agreed. They had no money to buy stop signs.
Another council member added, "And how can we stop anyway? The streets are
all coated with teflon. If we build stop signs, we'll waste all the money
we've spent on teflon!"
The townspeople agreed, again. What use were stop signs if they couldn't
stop their cars anyway?
The hermit replied, "But the stop signs will eliminate the need for teflon.
People will be able to stop their cars, and accidents will cease. The
solution is simple."
But what might happen if stop signs actually worked, the townspeople
wondered. How would it affect the booming economy of Allopath? Realizing the
consequences, a burly old man who owned a local repair shop jumped to his
feet and said, "If we build these stop signs, and traffic accidents go down,
I'll have to fire most of my workers!"
It was at that moment that most of the townspeople realized there own jobs
were at stake. If stop signs were built, nearly everyone would be
unemployed. They all had jobs in emergency response services, car repair
shops, hospitals and teflon coating maintenance. Some were now sales
representatives of the roadaceuticals company. Others were importers of
glass, tires, steel and other parts for cars. A few clever people were
making a fortune selling wheelchairs and crutches to accident victims.
One enterprising young gentleman started a scientific journal that published
research papers describing all the different kind of Skid Marks Diseases
that had been observed and documented. Another person, a
<http://www.newstarget.com/006746.html> fitness enthusiast, organized an
annual run to raise funds to find the cure for Skid Marks Disease. It was a
popular event, and all the townspeople participated as best they could:
jogging, walking, or just pushing themselves along in their wheelchairs.
One way or another, nearly everyone in Allopath was economically tied to
Skid Marks Disease.
Out of fear of losing this economic prosperity, the townspeople voted to
create a new public safety agency: the Frequent Drivers Association (FDA).
This FDA would be responsible for approving or rejecting all signage,
technology and chemical coatings related to the town's roads.
The FDA's board members were chosen from among the business leaders of the
community: the owner of the car shop, the owner of the ambulance company,
and of course, Dr. West.
Soon after its inception, the FDA announced that Skid Marks Disease was,
indeed, very real, as it had been carefully documented by a doctor and
recently published in the town Skid Marks Disease journal. Since there were
no studies whatsoever showing stop signs to be effective for reducing
traffic accidents, the FDA announced that stop signs were to be outlawed,
and that any person attempting to sell stop signs would be charged with
fraud and locked up in the town jail.
This pleased the townspeople of Allopath. With the FDA, they knew their jobs
were safe. They could go on living their lives of economic prosperity, with
secure jobs, knowing that the FDA would outlaw any attempt to take away
their livelihood. They still had a lot of traffic accidents, but at least
their jobs were secure.
And so life continued in Allopath. For a short while, at least. As traffic
accidents continued at a devastating rate, more and more residents of
Allopath were injured or killed. Many were left bed-ridden, unable to work,
due to their injuries.
In time, the population dwindled. The once-booming town of Allopath
eventually became little more than a ghost town. The hospital closed its
doors, the FDA was disbanded, and the Skid Marks Disease journal stopped
printing.
The few residents remaining eventually realized nothing good had come of
Skid Marks Disease, the teflon coatings and the FDA. No one was any better
off, as all the town's money had been spent on the disease: the teflon
coatings, car parts and emergency services. No one was any healthier, or
happier, or longer-lived. Most, in fact, had lost their entire families to
Skid Marks Disease.
And the hermit? He continued to live just outside of town, at the end of a
winding country road, where he lived a simple life with no cars, no roads,
no teflon coatings and no FDA.
He outlived every single resident of Allopath. He gardened, took long walks
through the forest, and gathered roots, leaves and berries to feed himself.
In his spare time, he constructed stop signs, waiting for the next
population to come along, and hoping they might listen to an old hermit with
a crazy idea:
...that prevention is the answer, not the treatment of symptoms.
This fable was authored by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger. You may reprint or
repost, as long as appropriate credit is given to Mike Adams at
<http://www.newstarget.com/> www.NewsTarget.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]