The next few years were a time of tremendous change. I named Chauncey and Rizzo as generals while Bruno was assigned minister of foreign affairs. He is the one that I sent to represent Utopia anytime a conference was called to address world crisis. During the next few years a number of these conferences had to be called concerning Utopia because we had our fair share of crises. For example our first crisis resulted in a famine. Lumpenproleteria was left in deplorable conditions after the exodus of Cuyamongan and Union workers. More than half of the population subsisted on the brink of starvation even before the exodus. Once the workers left, the inadequate stream of provisions dried up completely. When this happened, animals began dying in great numbers. I was confident that if we were organized and acted quickly the crisis could be halted. After all, there was plenty of food in the southern part of Utopia, formerly known as Fostoria. It was simply a matter of distributing the food. I called for a meeting of all the officials in Utopia, which at this time included every last citizen, because they all had equal authority under the law. I conveyed to them the seriousness of the situation. I explained that their brothers and sisters were starving to death and that it was in their paws to stop the death toll. Everyone agreed to distribute the food evenly and I expected the crisis to come to a swift end. To my bewilderment I found that the death toll began sharply increasing soon after the distribution started. I sent my generals with their troops to find out why the food wasn’t getting to the starving animals. What they reported caused me great alarm. Instead of equally distributing the food, many of our citizens were hoarding food for their own future use and some were even selling the food at exorbitant prices. What is so disturbing is that they were doing this even with the knowledge that their actions directly resulted in the death of other animals. In order to stop the deaths, I ordered Rizzo and Chauncey to raid homes and retrieve the desperately needed supplies. I would have never imagined needing to issue such an order in a true egalitarian state but that’s what I had to do. Eventually the food was distributed equally and the deaths were halted but this was no consolation for many. The death toll reached into the thousands. News of this embarrassment quickly spread to the surrounding nations and the first of many conferences was called for, as I mentioned earlier. Before sending Bruno off to the conference I gave him the following instructions. “Inform the world that Utopia is taking the strictest measures possible to ensure that similar disasters will never occur again. Utopia will be divided up into ten districts with ten governors who will represent the animals in each district. In this way we are confident that all of the animals will be represented while at the same time improving Utopia’s efficiency.” When Bruno returned from the conference he said that everyone was very pleased with the reforms we took and that they wished us much success. It was around this time that I began hearing strange rumors from abroad. It was being circulated that Utopia was going to be partitioned and divided between Cuyamonga and the Union of Animals. Even though these were only rumors I decided I needed to take them seriously so I increased security on the borders. It’s a good thing I took this precaution too because something unspeakable was about to happen. This event was so unexpected by the entire animal world that it is still talked about to this day. A non-aggression pact was signed between Zarathustra and Socrates. “What does this mean?” I wondered. As I later found out, this meant that the age-old rivalry between the two enemies was being suspended. I pondered, “For as long as any animal can remember, these two factions have been at enmity. What could be so mutually important that they would all at once hold off in their hostilities?” I have to admit, this move by my enemies caused me a great deal of worry. To reassure myself that everything would be all right I called for Stanley. Stanley approached me with a smile on his face. He was healthy and full of life. But just to be sure I asked, “Stanley, how have you been doing…with your struggle?” I thought I detected a slight sign of irritation in his countenance but he continued smiling. “Things are ok,” he said. “Like you said, it’s a daily struggle but now I believe in myself. In fact I have as much confidence in myself as I do in Utopia.” This response filled me with ecstasy. My face lit up which in turn caused Stanley’s face to light up. We were now feeding off of each other’s joy. “Utopia is going to be just fine!” I concluded. But just to be sure I decided to check in on our governors to see how they were getting on. All of the animals insisted that I be the one to choose the governors. After putting up a great struggle I finally acquiesced and made the appointments. Three of the animals chosen, you are already acquainted with. These included Truth, Justice and the former threshold guardian. The other seven were animals that I did not know personally but came with good recommendations from others. In the beginning it appeared as if things were going to begin running smoothly. Food was being distributed equally and the animals seemed to respond positively to the change. We did however run into a snag. As a result of the famine, animal carcasses littered Utopia and the territory began to smell. Everyone knew from history that if not taken care of, this unhygienic environment could soon result in an epidemic. This would serve as the first big test to see if the newly reformed Utopia could avoid another crisis. The entire animal world was watching. At first the cleanup operation went smoothly as graves were being dug to bury the carcasses. But after a few days strange reports began to reach my ears. Certain districts of Utopia were being cleaned faster than others. It was noticed that carcasses were disappearing even though they were not all being buried. Other reports came to me that no matter how many carcasses they buried some districts were accumulating large piles of remains. This caused these districts to reek and the animals living there to get sick. I found it strange that I wasn’t hearing any reports like this from the governors. The last news I heard from them was that the cleanup effort was running like clockwork. I sent out inspectors to investigate and they confirmed the rumors. Something else they reported to me was that the governors were living in the best areas of their districts and that they were all accumulating an abundance of material possessions. I was shocked and outraged. I sent word for the governors to conduct an audit so that we could discuss the results and figure out where the discrepancies were coming from. To my consternation I was informed that the governors were busy forming alliances with one another and had begun recruiting animals for their own private armies. I needed to act quickly before Utopia was undone, so I sent out my generals with their troops and they seized the governors along with their goods and any animal that had joined with them in the rebellion. Rizzo and Chauncey had them contained in an area that we used to refer to as the shelter. This crisis was averted but Utopia still had the problem of what to do with all of the quickly decomposing bodies piled up throughout its districts. I was in a state of perplexity about what could be done. So much time had already been wasted by the mismanagement of the governors that the solution of burying the remains before pestilence occurred was gone. Animals were getting sick and quickly dying. It was obvious to me that drastic measures needed to be taken but what could be done? It was around this time that I was approached by one of our citizens who claimed he had a solution to our crisis. He was a polecat. He didn’t look like any kind of cat I had ever seen before but he said he and his friends could solve our disposal problem. I was desperate so he had my full attention. “You see,” he started. “We have effective ways of eliminating health hazards like this. However our methods may be seen as…” He paused to find the appropriate word. “…Controversial according to modern standards.” I didn’t understand what he was talking about. “How could a cleanup effort be seen as controversial?” I wondered. He continued, “What I’m asking for is a little bit of latitude in regard to handling this matter. After all this is a drastic situation. Drastic measures must be taken to avoid an epidemic.” I was in full agreement so I said, “Of course. As long as no animal is hurt in the process you and your friends have complete authority to handle the crisis. Just please make haste!” With my permission the polecat hea
ded off to spread the word to his friends about the work they were commissioned to do. A couple of days later the polecat returned to me and reported that the cleanup work had been completed successfully. I was overjoyed. The polecat invited me to inspect the districts to judge for myself the results of the clean up effort. I summoned Stanley and together we followed the polecat throughout Utopia. I have to admit we were very impressed with the work that was done. The place looked even better than it had before the crisis occurred. We couldn’t help but wonder among ourselves if there was any animal civilization that looked even half as good as Utopia looked at that moment. However our joy was short lived because there was an abomination that awaited us in the center square of Utopia. I could feel my eyes bulge out of my head as we approached the abomination. Hundreds of raccoons, opossums, polecats and vultures were proudly standing in front of a mountain of bones, which towered high into the sky. The majority of the workers stood smiling from ear to ear in anticipation of their assured accolades. However some of the workers, most notably the Vultures, were perched on top of the monstrosity licking the bones clean of any remains that may have been overlooked. I was livid. “What is this?” I shouted. “What have you done?” The polecat that I had contracted the job to, came forward. “We did what needed to be done. We’ve saved Utopia from a biological disaster.” Indignantly I responded. “These aren’t the predomestic days! You’re aware of the prohibition placed on all domestic lands about eating flesh. What happened to the promises you made me about causing no harm?” The polecat passively responded, “But sir, we caused no harm. I assure you that all of the animals were dead before we started feeding. They didn’t feel a thing. As regards the standards of domestication, let’s not be naïve. All of the great domesticated lands resort to drastic measures during times of crisis.” I was at a loss for words. “If this gets out…” I started. But the polecat discreetly interrupted me. “It won’t get out. My friends and I are nothing if not discreet. Don’t worry. You can count on us to keep this quiet.” After regaining my composure I ordered the bones to be removed and hidden. Stanley and I hurriedly took our leave of the workers in disgust. Along the road I was suddenly overcome with anxiety and I collapsed into a sitting position. Stanley rushed over to me. “Christopher! Are you alright?” All at once in frenzy I leaped on my paws and stood erect. I grabbed Stanley by the whiskers with both of my paws in the same way Russ had done to Aaron earlier in our story. I peered into his yellowish-green eyes with anxious intensity. As my gaze widened I realized that Stanley had a nervous smile on his face. This in turn caused me to smile and to feel more at ease. I released my friend apologetically. “I’m sorry,” I pleaded. “I really don’t know what just came over me.” Stanley responded, “That’s ok. I think I understand your state of mind.” For the remainder of the way home neither of us spoke again of my unusual behavior.
Breed The Secret Design To Maintain Racial Inequality Among The Despised Classes Page 24