Agreement Story
Matthew Ryan Fischer
Two men struggled over the fate of a nation. They were rivals. One
man sought revolution through words and the pen; another through violence and
the sword. They agreed to meet, to sit down and to have a discussion. Neither
one thought much would come from the conversation, they didn’t expect to find
any common ground, but they both realized they should try. Their egos told them
that they were that important. Their egos told them they would influence and
change their nation. They were both men of ego. But both assumed that they and
they alone were actually the important one to the fate of their nation. They
were smart enough to know they couldn’t afford to ignore the other, so for the
sake of the nation, and their own future, they decided to try.
They discussed their nation and the history of their people. They
had once been a great and powerful nation. There had been many wars. Many
rulers and many wars. The rulers had spent money frivolously and pursued
foolish and pointless conquests. Neither of these men believed they would ever
repeat the same mistakes. Their nation had fallen on hard times. They had many
enemies and had lost a series of great wars and had been left with a weak
economy, a weak people and a weak future. Both men believed they would be the
ones to turn things around.
The man of the pen wondered allowed what future was worth fighting
for. Their nation had been so many things. He thought it was important to
examine the issue before fighting a war over it.
The man of the sword wasn’t concerned with the future. He was
concerned with his here and now. He was concerned with what he could take with
the tip of his dagger.
“Tip of a dagger?” asked the man of the pen. “Bit of an antiquated
idea, isn’t it? How much can one man really make or take in this world?”
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”
“Whatever you take with your dagger, someone else will take from
you when they stab you in the back.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It was an example. You chose a path of violence and violence is
all you will find. Someone someday will prove that to you.”
“They’re welcome to try.”
“And in the meantime that creates more chaos, more wars, more
destruction. And the nation suffers. Ask yourself what are we fighting for? Not
a kingdom. We’ve had a kingdom before and the kingdom fell. Not a patriarch.
We’ve had families and rulers and would-be conquerors. And they have all failed
us. They live, they fight, they die. And the nation struggles.”
“And what would you have us do?”
“I would create an idea. Any nation can exist and be defeated. Any
ruler can be killed and forgotten. We make ourselves an idea, an ideal, and
that can last forever. We stand for something, make it something that all the
people will stand for, and that can never be taken away.”
“And yet the men with the swords will still lord over your men
with ideas. An idea can’t fight. An idea can’t make another man bleed.”
“Ideas are the only reason men will fight or bleed. An idea is
what gives them reason to. Look, this was a powerful nation. This nation had
plenty of men with swords. And for generations that was enough. But look at us
now.”
“I will make it so again.”
“You will die trying and get a whole lot of our people killed.”
“You condescend when you should listen. You think because of your
pen you are a man of infinite wisdom. And yet you haven’t been paying
attention. We both want the same thing.”
“I doubt that.”
“I’ve read your writing. You see what this could be.”
“And you’re the man to make it?”
“We. Not me. You’re right – swords and blood can only get you so
far. People will need your ideas. But to get a chance to see those ideas in
action, you will need my sword. And as I said, I’ve read your writing. You’re
vicious. You call for the beheading of the entire royal elite and everyone
associated with it. You call for the death of foreign bankers that keep our
nation poor and in debt. You seem to be willing to coerce a great number of
people if they don’t agree with what you decide is right. Maybe we aren’t the same.
Maybe you’re more vicious than me.”
“I always say, if you’re going to do something, do it right. Not
that I condone violence.”
“Of course not.”
“But if a path is the only path, then one must walk it with all
their ability.”
“Something else we can discuss, when the time is right.”
“I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”
“You met with me. I think we both made our peace with what needed
doing the moment we made our peace with each other.”
“You are wiser than I gave you credit for. You are much more than
just your sword. Perhaps someday you’ll be the one to wield my pen.”
“Perhaps. If that is what the nation needs after you take up the
sword, then perhaps so. Perhaps so.”
No comments:
Post a Comment