The Rats in the Floors
Our global village – more like a stately old Victorian, actually – has a problem. Underneath the floorboards lurks a mean, filthy rat, causing all manner of nuisance. He steals food, he leaves turds in the sink. One time he even attacked a baby in a crib. In fact, being a rat, he’s prone to attack anything smaller and weaker than himself, and run and hide from anything larger and more threatening. We’ve tried everything to get rid of the rat – traps, poison, the works – but he’s crafty and tenacious.
Everyone would prefer not to have the rat in the house, of course, but the residents have become divided on what to do next. One side says the only way to proceed is to tear up the floorboards to catch and kill it. The other side, knowing the disruption and expense this would cause, is more wary. They suggest keeping a close eye on the rat to make sure he can’t do any harm. They say this out of concern for the house, not concern for the rat.
The proponents of the tear-up-the-floor strategy make the following case. First, the rat has done foul, rattish things in the past and, left to its own, would do them again in a minute. That’s hard to dispute, since, after all, it’s a rat we’re talking about. Second, the rat is gnawing away at the foundations of the house, and if left unchecked, could do catastrophic harm to the entire structure. This leaves many skeptical about how much damage one rat could do, especially if it is vigilantly observed and denied access to the means of destruction. Finally, they argue that the rat has been consorting with the wolves in the yard who killed and ate the family pet. This theory, though supported by scant evidence of fact or nature, they argue must be so since both the wolves and the rat hate the other people living in the house.
Whenever anyone questions the wisdom of tearing up the floorboards, the response is “you must not be serious about getting rid of the rat.” When critics point out that the destruction caused by tearing up the floor is worse than anything the rat might do, they are chided for failing to show commitment to principles. “Are you with the rat or with us?” they demand to know.
This is crafty because it focuses the argument on what to do with the rat, not what to do about the floor. The foul nature and intentions of the rat are not in question. What’s at issue is how best to improve the quality of life of people in the house, especially since there are other pressing problems (like the wolves in the yard, for example). And it doesn’t help matters that the side that’s ready to destroy the floor is already tapping the crowbar gently against its palm…
11:05:25 AM 
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