[MCS-CI-Heal] FW: Fw: Welcome to the Town of Allopath (fwd)

[Guest guest]

http://www.newstarget.com/z008674.html

Welcome to the Town of Allopath

There once was a town called Allopath. It had many people, streets and cars,

but due to budget limitations, there were no stop signs or traffic lights

anywhere in Allopath.

Not surprisingly, traffic accidents were common. Cars would crash into each

other at nearly every intersection. But business was booming for the auto

repair shops and local hospitals, which dominated the economy of Allopath.

As the population of Allopath grew, traffic accidents increased to an

alarming level. Out of desperation, the city council hired Doctor West, a

doctor of the Motor Division (M.D.) to find a solution.

Dr. West spent days examining traffic accidents. He carried an assortment of

technical gear -- microscopes, chemical analysis equipment, lab gear

-- and put them all to work as part of his investigation. The townspeople of

Allopath watched on with great curiosity while Dr. West went about his work,

meticulously documenting and analyzing each traffic accident, and they

awaited his final report with great interest.

After weeks of investigation, Dr. West called the people of Allopath to a

town meeting for the release of his report. There, in front of the city

council and most of the residents of Allopath, he announced his findings:

" Traffic accidents are caused by skid marks. "

As Dr. West explained, he found and documented a near-100% correlation

between traffic accidents and skid marks. " Wherever we find these cars

colliding, " he explained, " we also find these skid marks. "

The town had " Skid Marks Disease, " the doctor explained, and the answer to

the town's epidemic of traffic accidents would, " ...require nothing more

than treating Skid Marks Disease by making the streets skid-proof, "

Dr. West exclaimed, to great applause from the townspeople.

The city paid Dr. West his consulting fee, then asked the good doctor to

propose a method for treating this Skid Marks Disease. As chance would have

it, Dr. West had recently been on a trip to Hawaii paid for by a chemical

company that manufactured roadaceuticals: special chemicals used to treat

roads for situations just like this one. He recommended a particular

chemical coating to the city council: Teflon.

" We can treat this Skid Marks Disease by coating the roads with Teflon, "

Dr. West explained. " The streets will then be skid-proof, and all the

traffic accidents will cease! " He went on to describe the physical

properties of Teflon and how its near-frictionless coating would deter

nearly all vehicle skids.

The city council heartily agreed with Dr. West, and they issued new public

bonds to raise the money required to buy enough Teflon to coat all the

city's streets. Within weeks, the streets were completely coated, and the

skid marks all but disappeared.

The city council paid Dr. West another consulting fee and thanked him for

his expertise. The problem of traffic accidents in Allopath was solved, they

thought. Although the cure was expensive, they were convinced it was worth

it.

But things weren't well in Allopath. Traffic accidents quadrupled.

Hospital beds were overflowing with injured residents. Auto repair

businesses were booming so much that most of the city council members

decided to either open their own car repair shops or invest in existing

ones.

Week after week, more and more residents of Allopath were injured, and their

cars were repeatedly damaged. Money piled into the pockets of the car repair

shops, hospitals, tow truck companies and car parts retailers.

The town economic advisor, observing this sharp increase in economic

activity, announced that Allopath was booming. Its economy was healthier

than ever, and Allopath could look forward to a great year of economic

prosperity!

There were jobs to be had at the car repair shops. There were more nurses

needed at the hospital. " Help wanted " signs appeared all over town at the

paramedic station, the tow truck shops, and the auto glass businesses.

Unemployment dropped to near zero.

But the traffic accidents continued to increase. And yet there were no skid

marks.

The city council was baffled. They thought they had solved this problem.

Skid Marks Disease had been eradicated by the Teflon treatment. Why were

traffic accidents still happening?

They called a town meeting to discuss the problem, and following a short

discussion of the problem, an old hermit, who lived in the forest just

outside of Allopath, addressed the townspeople. " There is no such thing as

Skid Marks Disease, " he explained. " This disease was invented by the

roadaceuticals company to sell you Teflon coatings. "

The townspeople were horrified to hear such a statement. They knew Skid

Marks Disease existed. The doctor had told them so. How could this hermit,

who had no Motor Division (M.D.) degree, dare tell them otherwise? How could

he question their collective town wisdom in such a way?

" This is a simple problem, " the hermit continued. " All we need to do is

build stop signs and traffic lights. Then the traffic accidents will cease. "

Without pause, one city council member remarked, " But how can we afford stop

signs? We've spent all our money on Teflon treatments! "

The townspeople agreed. They had no money to buy stop signs.

Another council member added, " And how can we stop anyway? The streets are

all coated with Teflon. If we build stop signs, we'll waste all the money

we've spent on Teflon! "

The townspeople agreed, again. What use were stop signs if they couldn't

stop their cars anyway?

The hermit replied, " But the stop signs will eliminate the need for Teflon.

People will be able to stop their cars, and accidents will cease.

The solution is simple. "

But what might happen if stop signs actually worked, the townspeople

wondered. How would it affect the booming economy of Allopath? Realizing the

consequences, a burly old man who owned a local repair shop jumped to his

feet and said, " If we build these stop signs, and traffic accidents go down,

I'll have to fire most of my workers! "

It was at that moment that most of the townspeople realized there own jobs

were at stake. If stop signs were built, nearly everyone would be

unemployed. They all had jobs in emergency response services, car repair

shops, hospitals and Teflon coating maintenance. Some were now sales

representatives of the roadaceuticals company. Others were importers of

glass, tires, steel and other parts for cars. A few clever people were

making a fortune selling wheelchairs and crutches to accident victims.

One enterprising young gentleman started a scientific journal that published

research papers describing all the different kind of Skid Marks Diseases

that had been observed and documented. Another person, a fitness enthusiast,

organized an annual run to raise funds to find the cure for Skid Marks

Disease. It was a popular event, and all the townspeople participated as

best they could: jogging, walking, or just pushing themselves along in their

wheelchairs.

One way or another, nearly everyone in Allopath was economically tied to

Skid Marks Disease.

Out of fear of losing this economic prosperity, the townspeople voted to

create a new public safety agency: the Frequent Drivers Association (FDA).

This FDA would be responsible for approving or rejecting all signage,

technology and chemical coatings related to the town's roads.

The FDA's board members were chosen from among the business leaders of the

community: the owner of the car shop, the owner of the ambulance company,

and of course, Dr. West.

Soon after its inception, the FDA announced that Skid Marks Disease was,

indeed, very real, as it had been carefully documented by a doctor and

recently published in the town Skid Marks Disease journal. Since there were

no studies whatsoever showing stop signs to be effective for reducing

traffic accidents, the FDA announced that stop signs were to be outlawed,

and that any person attempting to sell stop signs would be charged with

fraud and locked up in the town jail.

This pleased the townspeople of Allopath. With the FDA, they knew their jobs

were safe. They could go on living their lives of economic prosperity, with

secure jobs, knowing that the FDA would outlaw any attempt to take away

their livelihood. They still had a lot of traffic accidents, but at least

their jobs were secure.

And so life continued in Allopath. For a short while, at least. As traffic

accidents continued at a devastating rate, more and more residents of

Allopath were injured or killed. Many were left bed-ridden, unable to work,

due to their injuries.

In time, the population dwindled. The once-booming town of Allopath

eventually became little more than a ghost town. The hospital closed its

doors, the FDA was disbanded, and the Skid Marks Disease journal stopped

printing.

The few residents remaining eventually realized nothing good had come of

Skid Marks Disease, the Teflon coatings and the FDA. No one was any better

off, as all the town's money had been spent on the disease: the Teflon

coatings, car parts and emergency services. No one was any healthier, or

happier, or longer-lived. Most, in fact, had lost their entire families to

Skid Marks Disease.

And the hermit? He continued to live just outside of town, at the end of a

winding country road, where he lived a simple life with no cars, no roads,

no Teflon coatings and no FDA.

He outlived every single resident of Allopath. He gardened, took long walks

through the forest, and gathered roots, leaves and berries to feed himself.

In his spare time, he constructed stop signs, waiting for the next

population to come along, and hoping they might listen to an old hermit with

a crazy idea:

....that prevention is the answer, not the treatment of symptoms.

This fable was authored by Mike , the Health Ranger. You may reprint or

repost, as long as appropriate credit is given to Mike at

www.NewsTarget.com

[Guest guest]

This is very creative and true Angel. I forwarded it on.

----- Original Message -----

From: " Angel MCS " <jap2bemc@...>

> Welcome to the Town of Allopath

>

> There once was a town called Allopath. It had many people, streets and

> cars,

> but due to budget limitations, there were no stop signs or traffic lights

> anywhere in Allopath.