99 Cannibals and 1

I imagined a story that ran this way.  In a very remote island lived a hundred people; 99 of whom were cannibals and one who was not.  One day by an overwhelming majority the 99 decided to make a meal of the one who was not.  End of story.

The longer version went like this.  The island at first had ample resources and all of the hundred people got along well.  Then one day food supply on the island started to dwindle. The non-cannibal had seen to it that he found other ways to feed himself outside of what can just be found on the island by fishing from the sea. So he stayed healthy and looked well while the 99 looked emaciated as food supply diminished. Then one critical day the 99 looked to the one who was healthy and by a unanimous vote decided to sub-divide him into 99 equal parts. In the eyes of the 99 it was well justified that one was sacrificed for the survival of the many.  99 were fed.  For one day.  End of story.

Then there was this version. The one who was not a cannibal employed a few of the 99 to help with fishing.  Soon half of the cannibals were working for him and they were well provided for so that, as a result and by consensus, they and the non-cannibal gave part of what they earned to those who neither worked nor earned anything.  Meanwhile, from the 99 arose a leader who declared that they deserved better and promised that he will see to it that everyone gets fair share of everything that was gathered from the sea.  Furthermore, the non-cannibal who had the most must give more than those who worked for him. In fact, it was so that at the end of each day he was not to have more than what everyone else had.  Since he was out numbered the non-cannibal agreed.  As days went on those who worked deliberately did less and less as it was pointless to work any harder since they will end up with the same as everyone else. Before long only the non-cannibal was fishing.  Then one day when there was no longer enough for everyone, the 99 looked to the 1 and made a meal of him. For one day.  End of story.

The moral of the story, if there was one, was that opportunities may be equally available to everyone, perhaps even guaranteed, but not everyone will want to avail of it.  And even for those who do, equal results are not certain.  Come to think of it, there is really no moral to the story.  For the 99 and the 1, it is the same sad “End of story”.