There was once a kindly wizard called Ipt who had a magical coat. This coat had two pockets, one labelled Down, one labelled Up.
Now Ipt was very generous. He let all his friends, and his friends friends, put their hands in his pocket labelled Down and take whatever they wanted. In return he only asked that when you took something from the Down pocket, you should put something back in the Up pocket. You see while his jacket was magical, it could not sustain a never ending supply of stuff. Ipt's jacket had a gravity fed pipe that fed all the stuff that got put in the Up pocket and transferred that to the Down pocket. This enabled Ipt to share that back out to the people who took things out of the Down pocket.
Poor Ipt was worried. While he was generous he was also very intelligent. He had systems and reports that showed what was coming in and going out of his pockets. He was able to analyse trends in behaviour, and he understood that it was what people did, not what they said they did, that mattered. He understood that if people didn't put things back in his Up pocket, he would eventually run out of things to give out to others.
Ipt believed that most people are inherently good. However hidden amongst the good people, masquerading as his friends, were the dreaded parasitic Hit'n'Runners. This horrible breed took too much from Ipt without giving enough back. In some cases, they were so selfish they didn't give anything back at all.
So the kindly Ipt knew he must come up with a solution to this dilemma. Firstly, he set some rules, and published them for all to see. This was so everyone would know that it was necessary to give something back in order to keep the sharing going.
Ipt decided he would give people a little tap on the shoulder whenever they weren't sticking to the rules. Ipt didn't want to punish anybody, and he hoped by giving people a friendly tap on the shoulder and explaining why the system needed to work that way to be self-sustaining, the people would be happy. But Ipt was realistic and knew that there would be some people that he would have to stop from taking things from his Down pocket if they had too many taps on the shoulders.
But some of the people were angry and a crowd formed. There were people who were self-interested, there were people who just hadn't read the rules, there were people that couldn't see the big picture and there were people who were just scared of change. There were even people who felt they knew more than Ipt about Ipt's pockets.
The wizard found himself under a verbal attack. "How dare you tap me on the shoulder and tell me about rules. I should be able to take things out of your pocket for free whenever I like" they cried. "But I only want to make sure there will be more to share next time. Shouldn't I be able to determine in what manner I provide this free stuff to people?" said Ipt. Some of the crowd nodded and were satisfied so they decided to go home peacefully.
"And what happens if for some reason I can't put something back?" the crowd asked. Ipt replied "well, if that happens and there's been a genuine problem, we can talk about that". More of the crowd nodded, and went home.
"But who do you think you are making these rules. I won't speak to you again if you don't let me have my way. I will hold my breath and stamp my feet. I will even call you names. I will never put my hands in your pockets again!" the remaining mob roared. The wizard took a deep breath and stood at his full impressive height. Clouds gathered and thunder rolled in the distance. His eyes narrowed and with a steely tone, he replied "I am a benevolent wizard but it's my pockets you're putting your hand in. That is all the entitlement I need to make these rules. I ask very little of you in return. If you do not want to abide by my rules, then you can leave, as is your choice. What decisions I have made, I have made for the many, rather than the few"
Some of the crowd begrudgingly nodded and understood that Ipt was right. A very small group decided they would fill their barrows one last time with as much free stuff from Ipt and never return. As they disappeared in the distance, Ipt knew he was right, and that he would have stuff to share for many years to come.
Source: Copied from: Announcements > IPT who had a magical coat.
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Originally Posted by Alien5
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