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A Fable about Carbon Footprint

That season, the butter beans nurtured in this Man's backyard garden were being sucked droopy of their Life Force by an infestation of small black beetles. His practical/commonsense side voted for an efficient pesticide to rid his plot of the pests, whatever the consequences.

The environmentally considerate ethic to which his Conscience subscribed was aghast at such a narrow stance. With contemptuous sneers, it argued, "Live and let live! Don't they have as much right to exist?"

With its usual loquacious logic, it continued, "Are they merely sucking the butter beans' life into a gorge of tiny bellies, or are they sincerely following a prime directive of survival?"

Notwithstanding his enormous respect for this challenging perspective, the Man's ultimate decision was prompt.

By employing a physio-chemical principle that the solution would disrupt an essential surface tension expected of the pores in the beetles' wax-based exoskeletons, he sprayed them with a sufficiently soapy mix.

The procedure soon eliminated the offending beetles from his Life. Most satisfactory to every point of view, he managed it all organically!

Moral: The trope shall set you free.