Musings in Writings

Once there was a colony of monkeys who wanted to move a huge rock. It was very heavy so all the monkeys had to work together to heave it up. Because there were so many monkeys supporting the weight of the rock, each monkey needed only to expend a tiny bit of energy.

As the monkeys were carrying the rock towards their destination, Monkey A thought, "Since there are so many of us carrying it anyway, one less doesn't matter." So the monkey slipped away quietly.

Several more monkeys with the similar thoughts also ran off ...

The rock became somewhat heavier than when they first started out, and gradually the weight became obvious.

Only a handful of monkeys are left later.

Then Monkey B thought, "Umpppfff!! It's so heavy! I would like to help, but this task is too much for a weak guy like me." and it slipped away from under the rock too.

A few more monkeys followed suit.

Finally only a few monkeys remained faithful to their task. And the weight of the rock overcame them and crushed them to death.

I saw a comic strip of this story when I was very little. It was those moral stories told to children. I forgotten all about it until today, something happened to remind me of this story.

A good friend's indifferent attitude towards a certain matter shocked me today. She chooses to ignore the rights and wrongs regarding certain matters for her own benefits and spins her own justification. "Truth is what one believes. No one can tell for certain the absolute right or wrong of a matter," she said.

I said "Everyone has a responsibility to not get a personal benefit at the expense of the community so that the world will be a better place for everybody to live in."

She said "There are always people who do things at the expense of the community and there are always people who do things for the community. Those who choose do good for the community balances things out for the former. That's the world."

As if that justifies her indifferent attitude towards ethics of her actions. I feel very sad about this. I suppose she will identify with Monkey A or Monkey B.

I however identify with the Dead Monkeys. Yeah, I suppose I am part of the community that who balances out the imbalances caused by people like her. *shrug*