The River of Madness
Written by Haitham Sabbah on 15. December 2005, 0152hrs // Part of Haitham Sabbah's adventure in Culture, Israel, Palestine, Politics, Religion, Sabbah, Say That Again, War // Other posts by Haitham Sabbah
A followup to “Should we?“
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful country, rich and bright people lived there, happy and relatively safe, except from few small battles with a neighboring country, over decades. Through this country ran a long, wide river, which was believed that if someone drinks from, he gets mad.
Years passed, but the sky didn’t rain. Wells drown, and no water was left for people to drink but from the river. Slowly, and one after another, everyone except the King and his Prime Minister drank from the river. Everyone became mad. Well, they all lived happily; although the King and his PM saw that all the people went mad. “So what to do?” the PM asked the King. “You see, everyone has gone mad and they are about to throw us out because they think that WE are mad. They think that you and I are crazy guys and should leave the chair for a new king and PM. They want to select one of them, the crazy people,” the PM Said.
“You know what, I’ll save my ass and drink from the water of this river and become mad like them,” the king said. “Go bring us some water from the river of madness and let us become like them. This way we will remain in power, and we’ll not die of thirst… Better all live as mad rather than rule a mad people who would be hunting you all the time.”
Thereafter, the King, the Prime Minister and all the people of the country lived a mad happy life.
Period!
Sorry, forgot to tell you something. The neighboring country didn’t like the “mad country”. Not before they became mad, not after they did. They always hated them and saw them “mad”. And visa versa. The now “mad country” (as they believe they are normal/mad, whatever), hates their neighboring country because they think they are mad. Before they drank that water, and even after.
So, what do you get out of all this?
1. Unless you are mad, you are mad
2. Every mad maybe not mad. At least the mad don’t think he is a mad after s/he becomes mad
3. Being mad or not mad, people will always find a mean to fight each other. Maybe because they are mad
4. The now “mad country” maybe not mad, but they were mad. Same goes to the “not mad country”. They maybe mad but don’t know they are mad
5. So, who is mad and what madness you come out of all this?
Are you mad? Or you think you are not, but your neighbor is mad? What if you are mad but s/he is not? Will that make a difference? And the madness goes on and on.
You see guys/gals. That’s why I said before (and some didn’t like it), we are all right, and we are all wrong. So, why the hell do I have to believe that I was not mad and now I’m becoming mad? Can’t it be the other way round? Can�t you be the other way round? Can’t we all be the other way round?
Period!
Oh, one last thing. Forgot to tell you something in that story again.
One day, a wise man was traveling across the area between these two countries. Once he started to cross between them, he met people from both side and listened to their story. He was shocked. He was Amazed. But you know why? Because he came to the conclusion that both countries are mad, but with a different version of the madness. So, he started negotiating with both sides, and finally he convinced them to travel with him to a new land, his land, which was another mad country. A third version, but once they drank from the river of that country, they all became madly in love with each other, since then and until now!
And the story can go on endlessly.
Note: Apology for the author of the “River of Madness” story. I really don’t remember what his name was, nor do I remember when I read the story. However, the original story is only the second paragraph of this post only. The rest is my own madness inspired from his madness to suite today’s madness.
Do you like - The River of Madness - 
December 16th, 2005 at 3:23 am
Hehe, I got kinda dizzy reading that story. However I guess the moral of the story is that there is no right and wrong even though everyone thinks they are right. I actually discussed this with my prof. who asked me to chat with an Israeli guy here. He said that we think we are right and the Israelis think they are right, but the truth is there is no right and wrong. I simply disagree. However, I guess ur story is true in a way, the king and the PM probably did drink from that river
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:56 am
I love stories that begin “once upon a time.” We’re programmed to suspend disbelief when we hear those words.
This story doesn’t suggest that there is no right or wrong. In fact it should be interpreted exactly the opposite there. It suggests that people choose to delude themselves. Which means that the madness is voluntary - subscribing to madness is a choice. There is right and wrong, but it is hard to face the truth when you are on the side of wrong. It is hard to admit it to yourself. Therefore madness becomes a means to avoid facing reality. We chose to delude ourselves. But we really know better in our hearts. Being mad just makes us feel better.
Its more like the Matrix movie where some alien technology turning humans into batteries. You take the red pill and you see who (or what) is running things but you can’t do anything about it. You become not-mad but things are still the way they are.
Some people chose to stay in the Matrix and believe the bullshit the system is feeding them like the Zionists.
Who is insane? The people who never knew any better? Or the people who decided to look behind it? If you can’t change it, maybe it is better not to know.
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:06 am
So you made it here, Dean
(we actually were commenting on this video when I referred to this post)
You got the point, Dean. We choose what we want to be, hence, we are responsible for what we become. The kid which shot the old man chose to be what he became, so he committed his crime, so does millions other Zionists who chose to be terrorists and “gas all arab”.