We all heard the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes when we were just little tikes. It’s a children’s story… uh-huh, right.
The way I figure it, the ENC is one of THE coolest parables about our lives today – crafted early in the last millennium and recorded by Hans Christian Anderson in the late 1800s. I guess it really must have taken millions of years for humans to evolve from apes ’cause we haven’t changed a bit in the last few centuries.
Here’s the story: a couple of scoundrels decide they’re gonna lighten the wallet of their rich but extremely vain Emperor. They whip up a story about how they’re clothiers and that they’ve come to the palace to provide the Emperor with clothes for his upcoming parade.
So, what’s so special about their clothes? The garments use a new, special, and (of course) expensive material that “only one worthy of his office” can see. The stuff just can’t be seen by anyone who is stupid or incompetent.
Maybe these guys were crooked but their mommas didn’t raise no dummies. What a delicious scam! These guys created a “product” out of thin air. Not a stitch of cloth anywhere.
And, if anyone said anything like “Uh… Emperor, Sir… there’s nothin’ there!” they’d have called the stupid police on them and had them thrown in the dungeon.
It was kinda like the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” thing of their day.
So everyone bought into the scam. Nobody ever saw anything, of course, but admitting that would have meant political and financial suicide, so the Emperor only heard how wonderful and marvelous his new threads were.
Well, the day came when the Emperor went out on parade – with his cool new “only-the-people-worthy-of-their-office-can-see-it” suit on.
The Empress (or is it Emperorette?) told him he looked fabulous.
His prime minister was floored by the workmanship and attention to detail of the clothing.
The chamberlain said he’d never seen anything quite like it before.
The dukes and duchesses, the lords and ladies, the courtesans, the yes-men in his cabinet, the court jesters, the pages, and the whoevers all told the same story. The Emperor looked maaaavelous.
His clothes, his shoes, his hat, they were all exquisite.
Then he walks past this little kid. This know-nothing, unimportant, snotty-nosed, innocent, little kid who couldn’t stop laughing. “Ha, ha, ha! That man ain’t got no clothes on!”
Everybody already knew it was true; they just couldn’t admit it until they heard it spoken from other lips… from someone else… from a child – who didn’t have an office to protect.
There are still a lot of crooks selling “thin-air” suits today. How do I know? Cause there’s millions of us walking around bare assed – protecting our position, denying the truth and living a lie just so we can be acceptable to others.
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
– Jesus of Nazareth
Let’s stop pretending. Let’s be perfect.