A Modern Parable of Government in Action!

There once was an elected public official overseeing the affairs of an important city.  One day he was approached by citizens who were complaining about a giant pothole in the city’s main thoroughfare. The gaping crater caused tires to blow out, hurtling cars into each other. There were many accidents. Furthermore, people crossing the street would fall into the hole. They experienced numerous broken bones, gashes and bruises.  Citizens challenged their civic leader to immediately take care of the hazard. “No problem,” said the politician, “we will put an ambulance by the pothole to be ready for the injured.” 

A few days later the citizens approached the leader again. They explained to him that the ambulance wasn’t enough; that it was constantly being filled up and put into service while many pothole-accident victims suffered without attention. “No problem,” said the politician, “we will assign more ambulances there for the task.”  

A week passed and the citizens again came to visit. This time they complained that, even with the additional ambulances, there were more accidents than the emergency vehicles could handle. “No problem,” said the government official,  “we will build a hospital next to the pothole.”

Many months later, a new state-of-the-art hospital was completed next to the pothole, at great cost to the taxpayer. Shortly after its opening, the citizens once more turned up at the politician’s office. Angrier than ever, they explained to him that the hospital was completely full and that more accidents were occurring than the new facility could cope with. “No problem,” said the man, “we will lower the whole city to the level of the bottom of the pothole.”