The Crab President Who Would Be King: An Allegory

There was a time of calamity in the North Atlantic colony of Jonah crabs. The great black-backed gull population had exploded and the birds were feeding upon the crustaceans mercilessly. The crabs, especially the youngest and most vulnerable, were decimated. Something had to be done.

A convocation of all adult crabs was assembled. It was decided the colony needed to organize, to raise an army to defend against the marauding gulls. However, after much discussion and bickering there was no agreement about strategy, about who would be recruited, about how the forces would be constituted.

"We need a leader," Sage Crab declared. He was the preeminent philosopher and teacher in the colony. All agreed, because Sage Crab was wise. And so it was that for the first time in recorded crab history, a president was elected.

In the beginning this remedy proved to be an effective measure against the murderous gulls. The president mustered the largest, most aggressive crabs in defensive formations. When a gull approached these crabs would join together, raise their claws and clamp down on the attacking gull's feet. Unaccustomed to such an assault, the gull would try to free itself and head off to safer feeding grounds.

"This was a great idea, Sage Crab," one of the young crabs observed. "We lose very few now to the gulls. The enemy does get in but tends to shy away from our colony because the birds are afraid of us."

So grateful were the crabs to their president that they began to bring him food and tokens as tribute. He was not expected to participate in defense because he was busy being president.

The president liked his new position.

"I think," he said, "if I am to have these responsibilities I should have a special place in which to live."

And so they gave him a house.

After a while he thought, that house looks ordinary for a president.

"I think a president's house should look special, perhaps have gold trim," he said.

The crabs thought that was reasonable, so they found gold on an old shipwreck and decorated the president's house.

He wanted a golden statue of himself on the roof of the house.

He wanted a throne.

As time passed the president began to feel he deserved more distinction. That he was indeed above other crabs. He wanted a fleet of ships so he could send his army out and conquer lands, to bring more crabs under his control.

One night Sage Crab sent messages to all his trusted colleagues. They met on a dark beach, under the protective cover of a jagged cliff.

"We must hold an election," Sage Crab declared."This president of ours believes he is a king. He craves power. He has sowed dissension between yellow crabs and red crabs, just because we are different colors."

Thorny Crab, who was red, whispered, "Yes. I'm afraid of him. He has surrounded himself with toadies. They speak of sending us, red crabs, away. They accuse us of being criminals, of being the worst of the worst."

Sage Crab raised himself on his claws.

"We wanted a leader. We elected a president, but this crab takes everything from us. He has become narcissistic and greedy. Look around at all the gold he has amassed. A vulgar display."

Thorny Crab whispered again, "An election...will he allow that?"

A murmur rose from the group. Everyone expressed the same fear. Would the president who wanted to be king, cancel the election? Would he use his goons, the personal army he had assembled, to force voters to stay away from the polls?

Sage Crab spoke in a firm voice.

"If we want to be free, then we must be willing to stand up for freedom. This is the moment in time when we must have courage and act for ourselves, for principal, for our community."

He looked around at the group and spoke in a clear, hard voice.

"We will not bow. We will not submit. We will not have a king."

And so it was that the common crabs in the community found their courage and united against the president who would be king. Never again in that community was such a weak, unfit crab elected to office.

The LMAC Collage Contest

As many of my followers know, I curate for the LMAC community. We are a collage community and welcome collages from everyone, on any theme. However, we also run a bi-weekly (usually bi-weekly) contest, that offers a prompt.

This round of the contest offers a picture by @shaka as a prompt:

Contest participants are invited to used this prompt as inspiration for a collage. Rules and requirements may be found at the prompt post. Three prizes (Hive) are handed out each week, and many HSBI tokens. Obviously, I'm not eligible for a prize. I just have a lot of fun making the collage and writing the blog. Plus, it's a pleasure to be part of this community.

Here is a list of the elements used in making my collage. My thanks to each contributor.

Elements in My Collage

• Fort on a beach
  dimitrisvetsikas1969
  Pixabay
• Crab
  Pixabay
• Frigate
  phtorxp
  Pixabay
• Golden Calf
  Buntysmum
  Pixabay
• Gold trim
  Schreib-Engel
  Pixabay
• Golden Crab
  KELLEPICS
  Pixabay
• Throne
  Pixabay

In creating the collage I used Paint 3D and GIMP. I hope you can see all the little crabs on the beach and on the boat.

Thank you for reading my blog. I wish peace, health and kindness to all.