Today’s politicians are much like the blind men who “saw” the elephant in John Godfrey Saxe’s classic poem. Written almost 250 years ago, “The Blind Men and the Elephant” is based on a very old Hindu parable. It has been used for centuries as an aid to teaching philosophy, religion, and character development. In the mid-185os, Saxe set this folklore to verse.
With all due respect for those who can’t see, Saxe tells how each man felt a different part of the elephant, the tail, the side, the knee, the ear, the trunk, or the tusk. Each came away with a different opinion about the elephant; consequently, they argued “loud and long” about which man was right.
