Week 13 Story: Value

When Values Are Uneven

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There once was an administrator charged with our country's highest honor- protecting our environment. Lisa McCarthy valued all of Earth's systems and it was her duty to make sure others understood such value. Under great leadership, the environmental administration was able to harmonize natural resources and industry.

As the saying goes, we never know a good thing until it's gone. One day, the wealthy industry men got together and decided they did not want to pay the true cost of using the Earth's resources. So, through suspicious elections and dubious appointments, Scotty Prune was now the one tasked with defending the planet. 

This was devastating to those who knew how precious the environment is. They thought surely the higher government would do more than open a window and appoint the first person they saw to be the administrator. Over time, the citizens’ concerns were repeatedly validated. Scotty Prune cared not about environmental protection, but only the success of his already wealthy friends. 

At one time there was a serious attempt to roll back car emission regulations. Scotty Prune believed there wasn't value in the automobile industry investing large sums of money into cleaner emission technologies. He thought he would help his car buddies out by lowering the inherent benefit of clean air. Fortunately, there was immediate backlash. Courts vowed to block such a move. Citizens threatened to sue the administration and government. Car companies that weren't friends with Scotty Prune promised to invest even more into clean technology. 

The uproar gave Scotty Prune anxiety. He was worried he had failed his friends and could lose his position. Some associates told him not to worry, that the crazy people who saw value in natural resources would soon get over it. This was not the case. The 'crazy people' argued if the air was dirty, we would all suffer, and spending habits re-evaluated. This had the wealthy men concerned. They couldn't continue being wealthy if people weren't buying their product.

It wasn't long until Scotty Prune was replaced as leader of the environmental administration. The country rejoiced, thinking they had successfully changed the mind of those in power. The value of the environment had been realized. Unfortunately, this did not happen. The wise Lisa McCarthy wasn't reappointed. Another person just as incompetent took Scotty Prune's place. While this story may not end happily now, good will eventually overcome evil. It may not be today, but perhaps tomorrow environmental value will increase before it is too late. 

"The environment is where we all meet; 

where we all have a mutual interest; 

it is the one thing all of us share"- Lady Bird Johnson

"A nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself" - Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The environment and the economy are really both two sides of the same coin. If we cannot sustain the environment, we cannot sustain ourselves." - Wangari Maathai

Author's Note: 
My story is adapted from the tale "The Rice Measure." The king was very greedy and wanted to take more than what he gave in return. The Buddha's job was to make sure everything had a sensible value. The king got rid of the Buddha and brought in a man with no knowledge of such things. Values go down, chaos ensues, but eventually the king's tricks catch up to him and the Buddha restores order. In my story I talk about how the current 'leaders' of our government continue to appoint unqualified people to run the EPA. The past couple administrators have not understood the true value of the environment and everyone involved will eventually face the serious consequences the rest of us already know.


Bibliography:
Eastern Stories and Legends, Marie Shedlock, Source