The Parable of the Human Pyramid

There was once, a long time ago, in a distant and exotic land, a strange society that took the form of a human pyramid.

At the bottom of the pyramid were the poor who bore the burden of the upper sections; in the middle were those who were slightly wealthier and their burden was lighter for they only had to lift the top section of the pyramid and at the top were the superrich who did not need to lift anyone.

But, because those at the top took most of the food and did no work at all, they became extremely fat while those at the very bottom, because they had little food to eat grew thin and weak and ill.

And because it is difficult for a thin, weak person to support a heavy weight; the weedy poor found it increasingly difficult to carry the weight of the corpulent rich.

Then, one day, the weight got so hard to bare that the pyramid toppled over and all those at the top and the middle went crashing to the ground.

The moral of this story is that a society in which all the power and wealth are concentrated at the top is like a poorly built and unstable pyramid; like a pyramid which is weak at the bottom and strong only at the top; it is an illogical, upside down system that is destined to fall time and time again.

A strong society, like a strong structure, is strong in its foundations and lower levels; the ordinary people are empowered and made healthy and fit and strong because they have the greatest burden to bear.