Al was hearing this from everyone. Suddenly, everybody was an expert in politics - and everybody who claimed to be enlightening him did so with a smirk.
"You're just too extreme," lectured Al's executioner. "People have to move to the center. You need to unite people, both the polluters and environmentalists. It makes the polluters feel dumb when you say the environment matters. Stop calling them stupid! Don't you want to win?"
"Don't you want water? How is that an extreme position? You can't take a position based on what sells best. It actually has to tie to reality. Otherwise, why bother? You die anyway."
"Well, the reality is you're never going to win! Stay out there with your fringe element and see what happens!"
Al was unmoved. "I'm not changing my stance one whit."
"That's because it's witless to begin with! Go ahead and lose! See if I care!"
The would-be guru stormed off in a huff. Al thought to himself what he always thought in these situations: "Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth."
But he was still confused. His opponents were so sure, speaking completely without self-doubt, so matter-of-fact in their approach it made it hard for him to understand how they could be that way if he were, in fact, correct. Al also knew that to be right meant death for every man, woman, and child living in the oasis.
***
It had once been paradise until the Banana Men came to power. No longer were the bananas to be shared and evenly distributed but they must be "earned". "People are horrible, selfish and lazy. This is the only way to prevent that. In blackmail we trust!"
But it turns out those who instituted these new rules in the name of morality were in reality the "horrible, selfish, lazy people" of whom they so loudly chastised. They giggled in their treachery and deceit, gathering up all the bananas to themselves, forcing the worst tasks on those with the fewest bananas while also driving them into the worst parts of the oasis to live.
Stupid is as stupid does. People saw how the Banana Men led lazy and luxurious lives and sought to emulate them, suicidally turning their backs on the egalitarian ways that had sustained them before. A sense of guilt and self-loathing crept in, mistakenly leading them to praise "our new moral system" as a way to compensate in their perverted minds. But that only cemented a growing sense of despair.
But in order to keep the banana system going and growing to reach ever greater heights, the trees were laced with growth enhancement chemicals which then drained into the water, slowly poisoning it. Al made it his platform that this behavior had to stop at once. In vapid response, he was called an anarchist, a traitor, and a destroyer of civilization.
"Al is an alarmist. Sure, we should be doing better of taking care of the oasis. But getting rid of the banana system is not the answer! Griping about it is enough."
Al came in dead last in the voting. Exit voters complained he was "boring", "a buffoon who doesn't understand greed," and "out of touch with reality." No one wanted the party to end and the idea Nature herself would end the party was to provoke a murderous outrage among the oasis dwellers. Their lies were more precious than their lives.
Al's tormentor returned to gloat after the election. "Not so smart now, are ya? Hahaha! Last place! How embarrassing. Everyone's laughing at you. How's life in your fantasy world where you're right and everyone else is wrong?"
"You have put the devil in charge."
"Then praise be to the devil for the devil has come to rule. Show me a man who defies him and I'll show you a fool!"
"Are all your replies going to be in verse? You idiot, the devil will betray you! Tell me how that benefits you."
"Our betrayer is our savior! The devil fights for us! You do not! He doesn't go around criticizing everything like you do. He makes us feel good and says we're doing great, Mr. Negativity. It just shocks and amazes me on what goes through your head on possibly thinking you can win."
"Back at ya. Speaking well of evil doesn't make evil turn out well. I just wish I didn't have to live at the mercy of mindless maniacs and murderous monsters who ruin everything for everyone else."
"You're the monster! You're the maniac! You are the one who wants to ruin everything. If you had more bananas you'd be talking different, yes sir. So don't give me all this high and mighty bullshit. You're no better than anyone else. I'm outta here. I don't have to stand here and be insulted."
"This isn't about me," quietly replied Al to no one.
***
Over time as the wrongness of their path became more and more apparent, the oasis dwellers began to turn on one another in anxious blame. The presence of Al became unbearable and he was lynched in the name of all their woes. Each leader in succession was angrier than the one before as the death rate from the poisonous water skyrocketed. Even the poisoned dead were blamed for "being weak and not favored by God." This continued until there were none.
Years later the oasis was discovered by a caravan. They were astounded to find a people who had voluntarily poisoned their only water supply. "These were a possessed people!" And as such, were despised for all time.
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