A StoryThe Azidoi, The Disease and the MedicineOnce upon a time the Azidoi ruled the world. They owned all the gold and silver and could buy anything that could be bought. In each country there was a King but he was a weak king. The men at his court were all the paid servants of the Azidoi, and he could only do what they were happy for him to do.All over the Empire the People became restless with the rule of their kings. They thought their lives were getting worse and the King didn't seem to care what they thought. In some countries they went out on the streets and protested. In other countries they chose a popular King who spoke against the regime of the Azidoi and tried to do what the people wanted. In one country half the people said they wanted to take back control of their country and leave their region of the Empire altogether. At the Council of the Azidoi they decided on a plan. We will lock the people down so they can't challenge us again they said. We will make the people our slaves. We won't tolerate disobedience any more. They asked their magicians for help. The magicians said to tell the people that there is a terrible disease about and that everybody must lock themselves in their houses to stay safe. Tell them that if they do go out they must wear a basket over their head. Tell them they musn't meet their friends or family or we will arrest them. Also tell them that there will be a new 'One Way' system coming in to defeat the disease. In future there will just be One Way of doing things, and One Way of thinking. Now the Azidoi were worried that the people's representatives at court might object to the plan. So they told them all to go home to keep safe. The King would rule by himself from now on and didn't need their help. The Azidoi were also worried that the Newsmen would report bad things about them. So they got them to take an oath to stick to the official story that their magicians devised. They also arranged it so that Newsmen depended on money from the Azidoi to keep working. If they misbehaved they could easily be shut down. The Azidoi were also worried that Doctors would not go along with the plan. So they ordered that the Doctors would not be in charge of the hospitals any more, instead the Azidoi's men would tell them what to do. If a doctor spoke against them then he was to be struck off and never allowed to work as a doctor again. Now the people were divided into two factions. These were the Douloi and the Hethanoi. The Douloi were the largest group. They didn't believe the Azidoi really existed and they trusted their King and the official Newsmen and all the official authorities to do the right thing. When the Newsmen told them something they believed it was true, and when the King told them to do something they believed it was for the best and they were happy to do it. The Hethanoi on the other hand were more distrustful. They wanted to question what was true and be free to make their own decisions. They didn't want to be bossed about by the King or the Azidoi's men. The Azidoi were few in number so they set up an army of officials to help them keep control of the population. These were called the Commonists. The Commonists were the elite of the Douloi and got special favours. There was plenty of money for fun events where they could learn the official teachings and network with other Commonists. They could get well-paid jobs and were made to feel they were special people, a cut above the rest. In exchange they had to share the official beliefs of the Commonists and promote the One Way system. They had a slogan they were proud to exclaim: One World! One Party! One Common Way! to be continued... |