I didn't write this.  My brother sent it to me.  He doesn't know who wrote it.

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.
Inside the cage, suspend a banana on a string from the ceiling and place a set of steps beneath the banana.  When a monkey attempts to climb the steps to get the banana, spray the other monkeys with cold water.  Repeat this every time a monkey attempts to climb the steps to the banana.  Soon, when ever a monkey approaches the steps, all the others will attack him and prevent him from getting the banana.
Put away the water.  Remove one of the monkeys and replace it with a new monkey.  When the new monkey sees the banana and tries to climb the steps, the other monkeys will attack him and savagely beat him.  He will have no idea why but this will happen every time the new monkey tries to get the banana. 
Remove another monkey and replace it.  When the newest monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the steps, the others will again attack and beat the monkey on the steps.  The previous new monkey will enthusiastically join in the attack.
Remove and replace a third monkey.  This third new monkey will attempt to reach the banana and will be attacked and beaten by the others.  Most of the monkeys beating him will have no idea why they are preventing him from climbing the stairs to the banana or why they are participating in the beating.  One at a time remove and replace the fourth and fifth monkeys.  Each new monkey will try for the banana and be beaten by the others.
After replacing all five monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have been sprayed with cold water.  Nevertheless, none of them will attempt to climb the steps to get the banana.  Why?  Because that's how it's done around here.

And that, my friends, is how government policies are made.


Something to think about; if you replaced all the monkeys at once, this behavioral training wouldn't work.  A monkey would successfully get to the banana.  This is why we should have term limits for all elected offices.  Sure, the other monkeys might beat him and take the banana, but at least they'd know why they were beating him and what was in it for them.

And at least somebody would get the banana.