Sons and Camels

The other morning I awoke with my mind filled by a story from the East that I heard long ago.  It bears repetition here today.

"A certain rich man had three sons, whom he loved; it was a realistic love that had regard for their strengths and their weaknesses.  One day he died and in his will he left a mathematical paradox for his sons.  He bequeathed them his herd of camels, and the formula by which it should be shared between them.  The eldest son was to receive half the herd; the second son to receive one third of the herd and the youngest son one ninth.  A few weeks after his death, an old friend of the family who had travelled from afar arrived for a visit.  To his dismay, he found the sons in agitated consternation over the camels.

"The eldest son explained, 'Our father had a total of seventeen camels.  It is impossible to follow his wishes without killing at least one of them.  He loved those camels and we are sure he would not have wanted this for any one of them.  We loved our father, and want to carry out his wishes, but we just cannot decide how to proceed.'

"The visitor reflected on this during his stay and, shortly before his departure, he replied to the sons.  'I'll lend you my camel,' he said.  'Then you will have eighteen.  Now, how will you proceed?'  The eldest son took half the herd, nine camels; the second son took a third, six camels and the youngest son took one ninth, two camels.  The visitor then took back his camel and left."

Like all eastern stories, this one is capable of interpretation on many levels.  The literal meaning is confused, since the proportions given in the will don't dispose of the whole of the herd.  There is the possibility that the father simply wanted to get his sons thinking about their respective responsibilities; the eldest son was clearly to assume control, while the youngest - and possibly the weakest of the three - would have but token influence.

Then we must consider the part played by the visitor.  Had he been primed by the father to visit after his death in order to provide a solution, or perhaps just to see that the sons hadn't done anything drastic?  Or was his arrival pure coincidence?

Finally, might there be a moral to the tale?  Are we, like those sons, too confused by the system, the minutiae of what is involved, to widen our outlook and see how the detail could be changed just a little to bring about a satisfactory improvement or conclusion to something?  Would we welcome someone like that visitor to cut through the red tape and show a better way forward?

Tomorrow there are market stalls across the country, 'from Cornwall to Norwich to Berwick-upon-Tweed'.  Their location is shown on a map here.  This 'Demand Democracy Day' is organised by Make Votes Matter, an organisation whose purpose is to give voice to an increasing majority of our population who recognise that the present electoral system in this country is not suited to a multi-party political climate.  It coincides with the signing earlier this week of a 'Good Systems Agreement' by Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the Scottish Nationalists and the Brexit Party to promote a new voting system for Westminster elections that will ensure that every vote counts (at present up to 68% of votes cast in UK general elections have no effect on the result), while retaining the direct link between an MP and his/her constituency.

If this is something that is important to you, do go along to a stall near you, say hello and find out more about what's going on.