A pilot fish swims at the mouth of a
great white shark so it can feed off the scraps that fall from the
shark's jagged teeth. What is a pilot fish without a great white
shark? I'll tell you what a pilot fish without a great white shark is
- a pilot fish without a great white shark is a very hungry fish. A
starving fish.
Now, imagine the shark was a bit of a
silly billy and got a bit greedy and ate up all there was to eat in
the sea and there was nothing left. What would happen then? Well, for
a while the shark and the pilot fish would feel very fat and happy
but eventually the shark would become hungry again and so would the
pilot fish. There is nothing to eat! What are the shark and pilot
fish to do? Well, it's quite simple. Some of the pilot fish should
offer themselves and swim into the great white's mouth while the
others remain to eat whatever remnants fall from the great white's
gob. Selecting which pilot fish get eaten would be up to the pilot
fish but I'd imagine the weaker ones, the ones down the back,
furthest from the shark's mouth, would be incentivised
to offer themselves first. Persuasive statements like: 'it's time to don the pilot
fish jersey' and 'it's your aquatic duty' would be thrown at the
weaker pilot fish and, despite emitting little grumbles and leaving a
few snarky posts on pilotfish.ie, into the shark's mouth these fish
would go. Better to be dinner than have no dinner, right?
Pilot fish are greedy but the great
white shark is greedier. The great white shark is the greediest of
the greedy and, ultimately, pilot fish respect him for this. Pilot
fish wouldn't have to resort to self-sacrifice in times of scarcity
if they were as greedy as the great white and not just as greedy as
each other. Greed is strength.
Greed is strength and that is what we
should teach kids in school. Draw a great white shark on the
blackboard and tell the children the truth. Even if it isn't really
the truth we may as well say it is because we act like it is. Because
we act like There Is No Alternative.
