The Allegory of the Village Garden
The Village has a Garden that is overrun by weeds, pests and parasites. While the Garden does still have some fruit-bearing plants within the boundaries, these useful plants don't do well sharing resources with so many of the weeds, the pests and the parasites to compete against. There used to be a time when the Village Garden was at least more productive and more functional than now, and some of the Villagers can somewhat remember these times. But for the most part, many of them feel overwhelmed by the thought of the constant battle against the weeds, the pests and the parasites. Many of the Villagers have given up even trying.
Over time, the Villagers have found that the weeds, the pests and the parasites can easily out maneuver the Villagers who want to see fruitful gains from the Village Garden. The weeds, the pests and the parasites can easily identify the like-minded and lowly individuals among them and find ways to have mutual empowerment lead to unjustly earned gains at the expense of the Villagers. It seems to be an uphill battle for the Villagers.
One day, a lone Villager happens to find a odd and unexplainable device. The odd device sparks the curiosity of the lone Villager. The lone Villager puts the device in a pocket and from time to time takes it out to ponder why the device has peculiar properties. A few days after this initial discovery, as the lone Villager is walking past the Village Garden, an intuitive thought enters the mind of the lone Villager that maybe the odd and unexplainable device can be used to quickly and easily identify, dislodge and discard of the weeds, the pests and the parasites in the Village Garden. The lone Villager tests this idea out and finds that the odd device indeed works very effectively, as the intuitive thought suggested. The other Villagers soon take notice at the progress that the lone Villager is making with this new tool. In a very short time, they are able to see how the tool works, and build their own version of the first tool. Now many Villagers are working together, tools in hand, and in a much shorter time than any of the Villagers could have previously imagined, they are clearing way for wonderful fruit-bearing plants to be planted and grown. The following harvest is so bountiful for the Villagers, the Villagers can hardly believe the abundance is true. It is as if a weight has been lifted from the Villagers to see the Village Garden in a functional and productive state.
Not all Villagers feel enthusiastic and some do not participate in the work of keeping the Village Garden productive. But this does not bother the enthusiastic Villagers because the enthusiastic Villagers all understand that enough willing individuals working together is all that is needed. Part of how they know when a Villager is not helpful is when the other Villager has no awareness of the power of the tools or the benefits of the fruits. Usually, the enthusiastic Villagers simply see the unhelpful Villagers as less than well informed.
A generation later, the tools that the Villagers first used to restore the garden are now only needed to maintain the Village Garden and it makes for light work. The tools the Villagers now use have evolved to work even better than the first versions making even less work to keep the Village Garden devoted to the fruit-bearing plants. With all these advances, the Villagers have become more efficient and grow even more exotic fruits and in large quantities. Only the oldest Villagers can even remember the times when keeping the Village Garden was so challenging and the Village Garden was under duress. The new adult Villagers, who were babies when the tools were first used, are magnificent reflections of the well tended Village Garden.
Explanation of the Allegory
The abstract meaning of the Village Garden is the intrinsic idea that humans in any form of a connected state will have overlapping needs and wants. The mutual needs and wants are happening whether they decide to work together or not. The weeds represents the threats to the productivity of the Village Garden. The use of the phrase "the weeds, the pests and the parasites" represents the way that threats to the productivity of the Village Garden can take many forms. The fruits of the fruit-bearing plants represents abundance and the potential that communal action has towards fulfilling the desire for well-being. Depicting the future where younger people grow up with the benefit of a functional Village Garden represents the consequences of the Villagers' decision to work towards restoring a community asset in their here and now. The odd and unexplainable device represents the ideas of tools and the use of tools. The enthusiastic Villagers represent the idea of being a citizen, not just living in a communal space, but participating in keeping the common interests secured.
The Battle
Some who read through this allegory might recognize this as a "Battle Between Good and Evil" and may make a religious comparison. Such a characterization would not be bad or wrong, however, for the purposes of this body of work, it is better to apply a different label for this struggle as a "Battle Between the Immature and the Mature". The difference between a person of immaturity and maturity is more than just an intention. Maturity can be characterized as a reflection of intention backed by specific and concrete steps requiring time and effort. For a person who endeavors to mature themselves, these efforts are made for more than transactional reasons, but for true and meaningful self development. Thus, these individuals are self-cultivated and can identify this characteristic in their peers. They will find themselves naturally wanting to seek this quality in the people they wish to work with.
However, people of immaturity have low and under developed moral standards and are highly opportunistic. This set of characteristics makes these individuals inclined to exhibit a criminal type of mindset and seek other similar individuals to collude with. The tools that these individuals employ include forms of lying, deception, negligence of responsibilities and abuse of power. When they find themselves employing these dastardly tools and making headway, they often find they can out maneuver the individuals of maturity.
The individuals of maturity need their own set of tools to counteract the individuals of immaturity. The Citizen's Framework are the conceptual tools intended for the individuals of maturity. These tools are based on an intersection of logic, mathematics, linguistics and the natural world. If the Citizens use these tools, they will turn the tide as the Villagers did for the Village Garden, and, likewise, they will bring positive results for the generations that follow.