"I KNOW COWS!"

There was a small community in the west. The people there were good, kind, law abiding folks, they paid their exorbitant taxes on time, took care of their families and each other. They worshipped at four or five different denominations and religions, but all believed in the Judao/Christian ethic the "Ten Commandments" and the "Golden Rule".

They were relatively well educated but none were educated beyond their intelligence and common sense. There was always food upon their tables, wood for the fires, clothes on their bodies and shoes on their feet, they had newspapers, television and nearly all were on the Internet. They had a grade school, middle school and high school, movie theater, small but effective hospital and during the summer concerts in the park.

When someone was out of work or ill there was was always someone willing to bring in a meal, chop the wood, hoe the garden, tend the children.

First off, most when in need would call upon their family for assistance, then a neighbor, then perhaps let the pastor become aware and then church members would pitch in and on some occasion because these people loved one another, members from other churches and the community as a whole would pitch in.

Now these people lived for the most part by the work of their hands and minds. They were ranchers, farmers, mechanics, merchants, seamstresses, dish washers, cooks, bakers, diaper changers, gardeners but most of all they were husbands and wives, grandpas/ grandmas, Moms and Dads, daughters/sons, brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts, and most importantly friends.

They did not drive BMW's nor Corvettes, they did not wear Armani nor Prada, and the morning latte was laughable to them.

One day at a town hall meeting the mayor announced that he had received a call at his home, "from of all places, Washington D.C." One of the staffers in the Community Dependence and Control Czars office had seen that there was no government run "aid" program to control these folks life should they need assistance. To quote the CDC Czar, "We must see that these poor misguided folks be brought back into the fold we must help them to see their way to conformance."

The program would start with the construction of a modern Government building where the park, swimming pool, and concerts were. There would be an outside government approved contractor (who had contributed several million dollars to the president's campaign and was god-father to the Czar), some locals may be hired during the construction, Twenty bureaucrats would be brought in to run the office and maybe some locals would be hired as sanitary engineers, clerks and office workers with all government benefits. Best of all they would bring MONEY from the government (that big faceless monstrosity which we never see but has a check book with unlimited funds to give us). They would take care of those in temporary need, thus others would be relived form the burden of caring for the elderly, injured, sick or someone who had experienced a crop failure. Others would then have more time to tend to their own affairs without concern for anyone else because the Government had you covered. They would also have programs so you would not have to sit down with your children in the morning for a blessing on the food nor have to eat together. They would start school an hour earlier and feed the children at school, but of course they could not bless the food. They would also proved another hour and a half after school for the children so that moms could have more time to themselves,(and they promised cookies after school so moms would not have to be bothered with children and their friends).

The good mayor asked those in attendance if they had any ideas about the offer. One elderly man arose from the group, he was not a large man, he appeared a bit weathered but still fit, his hands were calloused from many years of providing for his family, friends and neighbors. He was dressed in polished boots, clean blue jeans, a wool shirt and corduroy jacket with his large brimmed hat in his hand. " You all know me and my family. We have lived here for over a hundred years and hope to live here many more. I would not chose to live anywhere else.

"Now folks I don't pretend to know people, but I do know cows. Many of you will remember the winter 10 years ago, the snow seemed like it would never end, the cold was deep for nearly three months. I had cattle out on the range, these cattle for the most part were born and raised on that range, they knew where the waterholes were, which locations had a salt and mineral licks, where to find the best forage and how to climb up on the small knolls with trees on them and a gentle breeze to keep the flys away. They knew the places to go to wait out a sudden storm or cold spell. They and their forebears and calves had been doing well for some time, enduring the heat , cold, the drought and times of plenty well enough. They were strong and healthy.

"That bad winter we decided that those cows would starve and freeze if we did not provide some help to them. We brought in all the cattle we could find. We had a a large fenced pasture with some lean-tos. We fed those cattle all winter long and provided shelter and they did pretty well. Come spring when the snow was gone and the streams were flowing and the grass and browse was getting up we opened the gates. Not one cow, calf or steer moved. We just left the gates open for three days and still they refused to go. On the fourth day we pushed and prodded them until they were all outside the pens. That night they were back in the pens waiting to be fed. This time we pushed them out farther a couple of miles. The next morning half of them were back, standing in a winters worth of manure up to their hocks waiting to be fed. NOW, FOLKS I DON'T KNOW PEOPLE BUT I KNOW COWS."