THE TOWN OF ALLOPATH

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the town of Allopath

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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.

 

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

reprint or repost, as long as appropriate credit is given to Mike

Adams at www.NewsTarget.com

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