Very long and abstract to get the point across. Many people who don't already agree with the confusion will just start fighting the details of the pasta-relate

Very long and abstract to get the point across. Many people who don't already agree with the confusion will just start fighting the details of the pasta-related hypothetical. To take just one, lots of lawyers will argue that it is already illegal under U.S. anti-trust law to require that buyers bundle a patented good (the pasta makers) and the supplies to run it (wheat). That's why you see generic inkjet cartridges. The actual legal reality is substantially more complex, but it's the sort of trivial detail that will trip people up. A good allegory must be short and simple to understand. Kurt Vonnegut understood this. His allegorical tale of Harrison Bergeron (original: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html) (summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron) is incredibly simple to understand: in a world of PC gone mad, the government ties weights to the ankles of the best ballet dancers so that nobody is jealous that somebody else dances better. He repeats the tale as applied to intelligence (constant distraction) and good looks (must wear an ugly mask). There's exactly one step in his allegory: if you excel in any way, you'll get punished. You have to write clean crisp allegories like that if you hope to leave a lasting impact. Ten-step tales of patented pasta and wheat and wheat-making machines and so forth just lose too many people in the details.