The Golden Horns
Uncle Charlie, who has been a political activist--he helped organize the waterfront in San Francisco--told me the story of the Golden Horns. Once there was a kingdom so small that all of the citizens could fit in the king's courtyard. The rich and the poor were all there, and it was said that this was a country with a fair system of government because everyone could vote. The King's Vizier came out and read the resolution to be voted on. He read, "Be it resolved, that the poor people shall pay all of the taxes, and the rich people shall pay none. All those in favor," he bellowed, "Raise your golden horns and blow." And all the rich people raised their golden horns and blew in a long, powerful note. The King's Visier went on. "All those opposed," he said, "Raise your golden horns and blow." Not a sound was heard, for the poor people had no golden horns......................Gaskin: "It is time to take a new look at our society and to see if it still stands for the same thing. We have to redeem it and then fix it. If ignorance and greed and racism continue to force the direction of the country we could enter a serious decadence so deeply that we might not see real freedom return for a generation, if at all. We forget who we are. This is wrong. We must never forget that we are the people who thumbed our nose at royalty and have made it stick for over 200 years. That is what makes America important, not the gross national product."Advertisments
