The Parable of the Wagon

Years ago there was a very large wagon full of big, important, necessary burdens. The wagon needed to be moved from one side of the mountain to the other. The survival of everyone depended on it. It had to be done for the good of all.

Some wise people said: “If we all cooperate, some of us pushing, some of us pulling, we can certainly get this wagon to where it needs to be.” A very few said: “Oh, I can’t push or pull the wagon because I’m sick, I’ve a bad back, or heart, or whatever – won’t you please just let me ride on the wagon.” Since they were relatively few in number compared to the pushers and pullers, these agreed to let the few riders get on the wagon where they could be taken care of. They were very charitable.

Everyone agreed that a job this big required leadership to make sure it was being done in the most efficient way possible. Elections were held among the pushers and pullers and bosses were chosen. The riders didn’t really think it necessary to be involved in the election of bosses since they weren’t doing any of the work. They were content just to ride.

Everything was going well until some of the more selfish workers started to complain that they felt they were doing too much of the work, and the rich bosses were just living off the efforts of the workers. The workers were being exploited! So they promised several of the lazier workers that if they voted for them to be the boss, they could stop pushing and pulling and start riding on the wagon. They soon discovered that the more people they promised a free ride, the more people would vote for them. They also convinced those already riding on the wagon that it wasn’t fair that they couldn’t vote for bosses. The lazy workers and riders now made up a majority. The productive bosses and unselfish workers were voted out of power and made to push and pull the wagon all alone. They had to contribute even more – for the children you understand.

Very soon however, there were far more people riding on the wagon than there were pushing or pulling it. Little by little, the wagon went out of control, eventually careening at a very high rate of speed down the mountain, crushing and killing those productive workers in front and stranding those who were left behind to perish in the wilderness.

The riders were OK for a while. They were very happy to have the wagon and all of the valuables to themselves. However, as the wagon went out of control, faster and faster, it soon was smashed against the boulders and destroyed, killing all. The shortsighted riders didn’t realize that there were no more productive people left to protect and take care of them. They hadn’t noticed that things were out of control. And they had forgotten how to care for themselves.

In the end, all was lost.

The moral: When you have more people riding on the wagon than pushing or pulling it, you are bound for destruction.