After much thinking (that maybe he was woolly-minded, after all, and not quite as clever as he had thought), he realised that in fact, at least on the second part... they were absolutely right!

And he would reply,
"Yes, absolutely! To me it's the only place to be...on the fence, in the middle, in "no man's land".
You can see the people on the one side (of the "fence") and hear their needs, views and opinions, and you can see the people on the other side and hear their needs, views and opinions.”

“And of course, with those who are with you, already in the middle, there can be no real conflict, as you all (more or less) already have a unity of purpose, which is to make the best and most for us all, on all sides and all political views.”

“And since you've a higher viewpoint than the rest, you can see into the distance and see which road, direction, or plan to follow. You need to have that vision, especially if you all need to get on with it and get things done!”

After all this time the young man (who by now had aged, quite a lot) had finally got that new idea firmly lodged in his head, he and his lovely wife produced a most wonderful baby, a son.

Shortly after the birth - all of a sudden - he felt like bolt of lightning had struck him in the head-and it left him even more convinced that he was right, and that not only was the middle way the best, but that the world needed to work harder and be more united in order to solve all the world's problems, as his son's (and of course everyone else's) future depended on it, and that production and consumption is the key to it all - in other words, wealth creation, for everyone's benefit. Used wisely and for the best purposes.

He realised that any other "system" would take us back to the ways of yesteryear, or lead to communism - of some description. Both had been tried and tested, and either failed or did not provide for us all.

He had a vision up there on the fence, which illustrated his thoughts (he lived in Bath, by the way), that old saying “don't throw the Baby out with the Bath water”. He realised that too often, when a new idea, or Political Party takes over, the Baby is thrown out with the Bath water.

To make the most of all of us, to get what we all want and need to flourish - which is love, peace and fulfillment, and, of course, a roof over our heads and food on the table - we need to let go of old ways and old bad habits; to let them gently go off into their place, History - not to be forgotten - but to remember and to learn from.

And to make money to make the ends meet, in order to fund scientific research to solve the problems we cause to our precious planet!

The end