Once upon a time in the South Seas was a land called New Zealand. Some called it Aotearoa, to others it was called Gods Own. It was a beautiful land of abundance where every one smiled alot
After all they had good reason to do so.
There was a part where the soils were very fertile and sloped down to the always sparkling sea.
And there was a great apple orchard here. It was vast and no one really knew how many apple trees grew there. It was called the Peoples apple orchard. And people came from everywhere to pick fat juicy apples. And because the apples were free everyone was happy. The rich and poor alike could pick apples. So that there would be plenty of apples for everyone people were only allowed to pick 9 apples a day. And all was well.
Meanwhile across the mountains in a distant valley was another and very different apple orchard.
The apples here were picked for sale. And the market boomed and before long even the small unripe apples were picked as well. Because markets were fickle lots of perfectly good apples were wasted because they were not the right size. This orchard was not well managed. Nothing was ever put back into the land.They used great modern harvesters that broke some of the trees ,and compacted the soils into a desert where nothing could grow again for a long time .So after a while there were less and less apples. They said what can we do. We must keep up with demand. So off they went and visited their powerful friends in high places and spoke of their misfortune. This was the time when greed entered the land.
So their friends in high places said ,you can take two apples from each of the people who harvest the Peoples apple orchard. And so they made a law that this was so.
When the people heard of this evil ,and that they had lost two apples they were angry.They complained, wrung their hands ,held meetings . They said this was wrong and not democratic.
But nothing changed and eventually the people got used to seven apples each and decided that wasn't too bad. At least they still had some apples. Some even began to smile again.The seasons came and went.
Back in the other orchard all was not well. Nothing was changed in the way that orchard was managed and things kept getting worse,until once again there were even less apples than ever before.
So off they went again to their friends in high places and once again said ,what can we do. So another law was passed and another 4 apples were taken from the Peoples apple orchard . So now the people only had three apples. And once again the people were angry ,even more than before. After all they had managed their orchard well .So why should they give even more of their apples to those people far away over the mountains,who had been wasteful and neglectful of what they had. And here the story ends.