[SOC] Tribal Wisdom

[Bob Patten]

The tribal wisdom of the Plains Indians, passed on from generation to 
generation, says that:

"When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy 
is to dismount.

"However, in government (and academia) more advanced strategies are 
often employed, such as:


1. Buying a stronger whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Appointing a committee to study the horse.

4. Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride 
dead horses.

5. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

6. Reclassifying the dead horse as living impaired.

7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.

9. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead 
horse's performance.

10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve 
the dead horse's performance.

11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less 
costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially 
more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.

12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.

And, of course ...

13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.