Allegory

Once there was a valley with a stream running through it. The stream was clear and dependable. The stream supported all the communities that lived in the valley. One day an army moved onto the mountain to the left of the stream and soon thereafter an army moved onto the mountain to the right of the stream. Soon each army was spinning around trying to pull the stream up their mountain. Eventually the spinning pulled all the green out of the valley. The noise distracted the people of the communities and left them confused and wandering. The communities finally crumbled and the people turned around to see what they’d lost and the only thing they found was that the stream was still there and was as clear and dependable as ever.