“Once upon a time, there was a kingdom…”
“Why was it called a kingdom?”
“Because a King ruled it.”
“Not that story. I want a story about a Queen.”
“Once upon a time there was a Queen who ruled a country. The country was very peaceful, but the neighboring kingdom was run by a mean ruler who wanted to take it over.”
“Not that story. War is a terrible way to solve problems. Give me a story about collaboration.”
“Once upon a time there was a Queen who ruled a country. The country was very peaceful, but the neighboring country had a lot of problems. People and natural resources were being exploited for the benefit of a few. The Queen was troubled by her neighbor’s plights, so she sent an envoy to offer assistance, but the envoy was kidnapped, so reluctantly she decide that she would go to war.”
“Not that story. You see how easily you fall back into the same pattern? Conflict leads to violent response. You can do better.”
“Once upon a time there was a Queen who ruled a country. The country was very peaceful, but the neighboring country had a lot of problems. People and natural resources were being exploited for the benefit of a few. The Queen was troubled by her neighbor’s plights, so she sent an envoy to offer assistance…she sent a lot of teachers and healers and people to help the citizens set up their own schools and hospitals. And because she was a kind Queen, she made the healers and teachers understand the people they were there to help and didn’t try to change their culture. The teachers and healers trained more teacher and healers, and those people taught and cleaned and fixed and the Queen’s people could leave, knowing that the country next door could take care of itself. In the meantime the Queen made it known to the country’s rulers that if people were happy, healthy and productive everyone benefited…and…”
“…and, she stepped down as Queen, because monarchies are childish relics treasured only be people who want some escape from the complexities of the real world.”
“The End?”
“Nope. The Beginning.”
“Thanks Dad, that’s the story I want.”
All characters and situations, E. Friedman
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)