copyright © 2003 by Robert L. Blau

    There was once a small kingdom located by a beautiful lake.  The water of the lake was cool, crystal clear, and plentiful, and it amply provided all the liquid needs of the kingdom.  The people of the kingdom called it "our beautiful, crystal clear lake."
    As the years rolled by, the economy of the kingdom changed from predominantly agricultural to predominantly industrial.  The growth of industry was great, as it provided jobs and wealth.  Unfortunately, it also provided some rather unattractive run-off into the beautiful lake, which was not quite so beautiful anymore.  The lake went from crystal clear to slightly blue-green.  Hardly anyone noticed.  The few who did simply shrugged their shoulders because the lake was still beautiful, and industry, after all, provided jobs and wealth.  The people still called the lake "our beautiful, crystal clear lake," even if it was a bit blue-green.
    After another few years, the lake went from slightly blue-green to opaque to viscous.  It was now impossible to call it "our beautiful, crystal clear lake," but the government named it Crystal Clear Lake in the hopes that no one would notice.  In fact, the kingdom now had bigger fish to fry, although none of them came from Crystal Clear Lake, since the last of that lake's fish had gone belly up years ago.  
    But back to the problem.  A mysterious disease was running amok among the populace.  It appeared to be some kind of poisoning, so it became known as "the Poisoning."  People were sickening and dying from no apparent cause.  Going belly up, as it were.  After much research and experimentation, the kingdom's scientists developed an elixir, which they called "the Elixir," that had some success in controlling the symptoms of the disease and slowing its progress.  The process for producing the Elixir created a great deal of additional waste, which was also dumped into Crystal Clear Lake, but who could complain?  The Elixir was the first thing that showed any efficacy in fighting the Poisoning.
    Well, ... there was one dissonant voice.  It belonged to a dolt who was known as Eddie the Fool.  "If we just cleaned up the lake," said Eddie the Fool, "I'll bet this poisoning stuff would all go away."
    "Eddie," said the doctors, "you're a fool.  That's why we call you 'Eddie the Fool.'  The Elixir is the only thing that can cure the Poisoning."
    "Eddie," said the pharmaceutical manufacturers, "Any fool can see that the Elixir is the only answer to the Poisoning.  You're more than a fool.  You're an idiot.  In fact, from now on, we're going to call you 'Eddie the Idiot.'  It sounds better, anyway."
    "Eddie," said the politicians, "you're worse than an idiot.  You're a traitor.  By suggesting that we clean up the lake instead of making more Elixir, you are insulting all the people who died from the Poisoning and all the people who worked so hard on the Elixir.  We should call you 'Eddie the Traitor.'"
    "But ..." said Eddie the Idiotic Traitor.  But no one was listening.

    Not far from the kingdom on Crystal Clear Lake was another kingdom.  It was a lot bigger, and it had a lot bigger lake, too. They called their lake A Lot Bigger Crystal Clear Lake.  The bigger kingdom had never had any Poisoning problems, and their populace was fat and happy.  But A Lot Bigger Crystal Clear Lake was also not as crystal clear as it used to be, and before long, cases of the Poisoning began to appear in the bigger kingdom.  The people became frantic.
    "What are we to do?" they fretted. "We here in Bigger Kingdom don't have problems like the Poisoning.  That's for those backward little kingdoms, like the one on Crystal Clear Lake, which isn't nearly as crystal clear as our lake."
    "How about cleaning up our lake?" asked a woman called Mary the Ditz.
    "What?  Are you crazy?" said the politicians. "We'll have to call you 'Crazy Mary' now.  We know what to do about the Poisoning.  We'll just consult our friends in Smaller Kingdom.  They've been dealing with the Poisoning for years.  They're experts on the subject."