Let me tell you a story:

Once upon a time, there was a country called Gafroniak. It had an army of great and able men led by its firm but kind General. The men and women of the army served the General with purpose and, determination and hard work. Always sacrificing their all for the country. Although they lived in peace as well as abundance, there was an inevitable feeling of not being rewarded fairly for all their work and sacrifice.

The General

Slowly but surely the able and skilled men left the army to join private armies which were run by corporate figures who rewarded fairly based on performance and skills. As this was happening, a Colonel and his Lieutenant were still fighting battles, plugging holes where the men left. The Colonel has served over 10 years and his Lieutenant 8 years in the force. Here were 2 of the General’s most trusted men and yet even they were unable to convince the General to reward the men fairly as they deserved.

The Colonel

The Colonel finally had enough and was laying down his gun for the private armies too. Leaving his Lieutenant to command the rest of the men who would stay. The Lieutenant kept in communication with all the men who had left and they were all asking him to join them as they are now not only trained in more modern warfare tactics and weaponry but also rewarded very richly based on performance and skills.

The Lieutenant

Someone came to knock on the Lieutenant’s door and offered him a better position and reward in their army. Reluctantly, he left the army he had so faithfully served and had deep emotional connections to give his family a better life. The General had to recruit a new Lieutenant to make up for the loss of 2 good men. As it turns out, the new Lieutenant, had the same number of year’s experience as the man he is replacing albeit having served in the armies of various countries. His record was shady and not much known about him. Efforts to trace his past was greeted with information of his ineffectiveness and ‘soldier-of-fortune’ nature. Here was a man the General immediately promoted to Colonel and paid 5-times more than the Colonel and way more than the Lieutenant who just left.

‘Soldier of Fortune’ Colonel

What justice is this? Why were the soldiers who had so faithfully and selflessly served under the General be treated with such injustice? Was the General taking them all for granted that they’d never leave for greener pastures? Was the General being partial? Was he losing it?

It doesn’t matter now. All that the good men know is that their departure was fully justified and their emotional attachment to the army of Gafroniak is but all gone.