The king and the broken kingdom

By Alex White / @iamalexwhite

There was, in days of economic gloom where a loaf of bread was worth more than the paper used as currency, an heir to the throne in a Kingdom previously rich with prosperity. The young Prince, striking down all before him with his smooth talk and slick image, told the King’s subjects that the Kingdom was in trouble because of the King. The King, a battle- weary leader after a bloodless coup, did not heed his cries. They were after all, coming from the mouth of a Prince; a lesser entity.

The Prince continued on his travels throughout the kingdom, spreading his message. ‘The Kingdom is broken! The King is to blame!’ and so on and so forth. For, as the Prince and his merry men did not let anyone forget, the King had sold all the Kingdom’s gold, thus plunging the Kingdom into new economic woes. So it was told; and so it was believed.

The Prince was voracious in telling his story to the people who read the news and to the people who told the news. Eventually, what he said became accepted. The King, wallowing in self-pity in his palace, watched his support slip away.

The time came where the Prince realised his ambition and became the King. The old King – disposed of the power for which he had lusted for decades – was gone with a final, disappointing fight. The Prince, taking his place, proclaimed a new era of prosperity, of change, of excitement throughout the land. But what came, sold to the country by his trusty court-jester, was an age of austerity, forcing the people back into poverty.

He took the armies to wage war in foreign lands, whilst pushing his country back into the wilderness. Progress made under the previous two Kings had been halted so that the new leader could give weight to his argument that the country had spent too much. He said the King before him was reckless, arrogant with the treasure of the land. Eventually his subjects began to believe him. Everyone said to him; ‘Yes, King’.

He said that his rule was one of responsibility. So it was told; and so it was believed.

He went on building his arguments like this and most people said, ‘Yes, King’.

The King set about changing the land. After all, it was Broken – he had told us so he must be right. He set out plans to sell off the countryside, the hospitals and the schools. He decided to make his people work harder, for longer. He thought he could make his people proud of being a part of this new, fixed Kingdom.

In trying to fix a Broken Kingdom, the King only furthered the troubles. He thought about how he had indulged in telling everyone how the old King had broken society. ‘I can’t say that anymore,’ he realised. The King chose to ignore he had ever said it. Instead, he declared ‘this is the land of the Great!’ It was a fickle, a cynical move. It embarrassed the Kingdom.

He went on building his arguments like this and nobody said ‘Yes, King’.