#ChickenMafia Bedtime Story

Once upon a time, there was a lion, a zebra, and a vast plain of beautiful, lush grass.  The lion soon saw himself as the most powerful, and unilaterally claimed the title "King of the Beasts".  The zebra heard the lions proclamation, ignored it, and continued to eat the lush green grass.

The zebra fully understood the power of the lion's jaws and claws.  The zebra also had powerful jaws.  In addition, the zebra had a prehensile tongue that grabbed the lush green grass, and ripped off one mouthful after another.

The grass was no match for the strength of the zebra's teeth and tongue.

The lush green, nutritious grass helped the zebra grow strong and run fast.  The faster the zebra was able to run, the safer the zebra felt from the potential attack of the lion.

The beasts dropped their dung here, there, and everywhere on the grassy plain, fertilizing the grass.  The gentle rains came and watered the grass.

The grass grew plentifully, but some grasses were superior to others.  The zebra soon learned where the best grasses grew, and spent the majority of his time in those regions with better grass. The location of the zebras affected the location of the lions.   The better grass received a better share of dung of both zebra and lion.  The better grasses were thereby better fertilized, growing faster and better.

Eating the better grass, the zebra grew strong and multiplied.

The lion, in turn, chased and captured the slowest and weakest of the zebra, ensuring that the zebras with personal shortcomings were not propagated forward to the next generation.  The lion was fortified by the nutritious zebra meat, and the lion multiplied as well.  The weak and slow lions were not successful zebra hunters, were unable to have or support offspring, thereby ensuring that their weaknesses were not passed forward to the next generation.

An ecologically balanced world had formed, and all was good.

One day, the lion tried thinking a little too much.  The lion thought, that since he was the King of the Beasts, he was the most important part of the world, far more important than the zebra, and certainly more important than the grass which was walked on by both lions and zebras.

The lions called a meeting, and suggested to the zebras that what the world needed was more lions, and better fed lions.  If this was done, everybody would benefit, said the lions.

"How would the zebras benefit from more lions, and better fed lions?", asked the zebras.

The lions told the zebras that more lions would ensure that the zebras got lots of exercise running for their lives from the lions, and therefore the zebras would be fitter and healthier, and their offspring would improve that much faster.

The zebras weren't totally convinced by the lion's proposal.

One zebra spoke up, saying, "I think we need more zebras, not more lions.  I think we need more and better grass for the zebras to eat".

The lions started to laugh at what they thought was a silly zebra idea.

Nobody asked the grass what they thought.  Nobody asked the dung for their opinion.  Nobody thought to ask the rains for their ideas.  The grass was upset about being ignored.  The grass decided to show its sorrow by actions rather than words.

The grass held back its seeds, so new grass did not grow.  The grass grew very strong roots and stored its energy below ground.  The green shoots withered in the hot sun, and turned to dry, inedible, tasteless straw.

The zebras had a very difficult time finding enough food for themselves, so they migrated to far away, strange lands.  The lions were left alone with a dry dusty plain, with no zebras to eat.

The lions soon learned that all aspects of the circle of life were equally important.  The King of the Beasts isn't much of a king without his subjects, or without food for his subjects.

The lions apologized to the grass. The lions fertilized the grass. The rains came again, and the grass could no longer contain its vigor.  The grass grew lush and green again.  The zebra smelled the lush green grass from far away, and had soon returned.

This time, the rain, grass, dung, zebras, and lions lived as equals in harmony.  They realized that each was an important part of an eco-systemic feedback loop that worked through their mutual synergy.  No longer did one try to take advantage of the other.

The End

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What is the moral of the story for #ChickenMafia?

I would suggest that things have gotten way out of balance.  It is more grass that can produce more zebras, which in turn permits more lions.  It is the small who permit the mighty.

#ChickenMafia rule as if they have the divine right of kings. There is little or no need to improve, for both the lousy and the excellent get the same minimum price, and have guaranteed customers.  Customers cannot choose their suppliers.  Over time, the #ChickenMafia have naturally grown fat and sloppy due to the dysfunctional system in which they live and benefit.

The #ChickenMafia's insists on recklessly gaining greater and greater wealth for themselves, to persecute the Small Flockers, and oppress and starve the citizens through 300% higher prices for chicken.  It is these things that has placed our chicken eco-system akilter, and dysfunctional.

It is time to re-balance the chicken lifecycle systems in our society.

The #ChickenMafia does not create wealth, nor feed the people. The #ChickenMafia creates a little wealth for a few who demand additional status and privilege, but in doing so, it destroys far greater wealth and rights of everybody else; a net negative to society.  The #ChickenMafia destroys our health with bogus chicken meat that is dangerous, toxic, disease-causing, and not sufficiently nutritious.

It is time to re-balance our chicken systems.

The following is a 6 minute TED talk by Mr. Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist who was one of the first non-family investors in Amazon.com , a billionaire, and has a passion for exposing an invalid assumption in our society, similar to the #ChickenMafia 's assumption about their status and privilege.