Paul Kingsnorth

It continues to rain, I still have a stinking virus, I have too much work to do, not enough time to do it and barely enough money to live on. I hate winter.

And yet, there are reasons to be happy. Here is one of them: Pinochet is dead. Hurray.

That's three down:












And two to go:











As we watch them all slowly drop into the pages of history, it's worth remembering that the cautionary story of this little gang of friends is the story of how we got where we are today.

Milton is a clever little boy. Milton has an idea : let people make as much money as they like, without anyone stopping them, by any means they can, and the world will be a better place. When Milton tells people about his idea, most of them laugh. But Milton doesn't care. He believes.

Milton makes friends with Augusto. Augusto is about to take over a country, and he thinks Milton's idea is a good one. Milton is pleased: he needs somewhere to try it out. Augusto, with some help and some aeroplanes from his friend Henry, takes over the country, rounds up and kills anyone who doesn't like him, and proceeds to restructure the country according to Milton's idea. Lots of Augusto and Henry's friends get very rich. Augusto and Henry are pleased.

Ronald and Margaret are also friends with Augusto and Henry. They have been watching Augusto's country with some interest. Soon, Ronald and Margaret get to take over their own countries, though they don't use planes. Like Augusto, they start to use Milton's idea to change things. Milton is happy.

Suddenly, no-one is laughing at Milton any more. In fact, lots of other people who run countries are starting to smile at him and invite him to parties. They can see how rich some people are getting thanks to Milton. Lots of other people are getting poor, of course, but these people don't run countries, or have friends who run countries.

Soon, almost everyone is the world likes Milton's idea. So many people like his idea, in fact, that anyone who doesn't feels left out. They also feel poor, as Milton's friends now run the whole world, and they don't like anyone who doesn't like Milton.

Milton lived happily ever after until he died, very old and rich. So did Augusto and Ronald. Margaret and Henry still live happily ever after. They spend their old age helping their friends get richer, and telling everyone how nice Milton and Augusto were. They are all very happy.

The End. Possibly in more ways than we can currently imagine.