Published on Linkedin on March 1, 2016
This article is an extract from Bryan Britton’s 2010 book – ‘Stepping Stones’
https://www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/Stepping-Stones
I have pointed to the evil managers of men in several chapters in this book.
These evil individuals are not always visible. They employ foot soldiers who carry out
their work. You sometimes only find out about them from the results of their
handiwork. They are often confused with a ‘third force’. They create a mystery over
their motivations. They live all over the world.
A recent tragedy, however, exposed the evil managers in a laboratory environment.
By this I mean that the political motivations that we normally assume to be at play
were in this instance, entirely absent. The tragedy, which occurred in Asia, was caused
by a monsoon hurricane. The inhabitants of the area were mainly poor subsistence
farmers, trying to eke out a living under extremely difficult circumstances. These poor
farmers and their families were driven from their land by destructive winds, swiftly
rising waters and rodents. The diseased rodents were also fleeing the floods.
Housed in temporary camps, at least dry and warm, these poor villagers huddled
around temporary fires recounting the tragic events, counting lives lost and pondering
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their hopeless future. At least for the moment they had food to sustain them. The
food, courtesy of relief agencies, was sufficient to keep them alive for a couple of
weeks, while they sought rehabilitation.
After two days the food ran out. Caring and embarrassed, the food agencies again
arranged for food supplies to be flown in. To ensure proportionate distribution this
time, they arranged vouchers to be distributed so that each family would be assured
of their share. But after two days the food ran out once more. From this poor, tragedy-
stricken community, the food donors had appointed a few individuals to distribute the
food. These individuals had seen in the plight of their own community, an opportunity
to uplift themselves. They had stolen the food. And they had stolen the vouchers.
The evil managers of men are not always third forces or agents of political beliefs or
political chiefs. The evil managers of men reside in each one of us. It is our choice
whether we hear the evil managers’ voices that broadcast endless propaganda in our
heads. It is our choice, every one of us; Black, White, Coloured, Asian, man, woman,
Catholic, Muslim, Protestant, Hindu or Jew, whether we obey those broadcasts, or
whether we silence those broadcasts with prayer, with thoughts of ‘good’ instead.
Whether we silence those broadcasts with deeds and actions founded in compassion,
mercy, love, understanding, forgiveness and a caring for our fellow man, and whether
we become, instead, agents for ‘good’. It is up to you, young man. It is up to you,
young woman. God bless you in your quest.
“There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like
folly, there is no torrent like greed.”
― Gautama Buddha
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