Zebras and Horses, 15th Dec., 2010.

Here's the story I referenced to in the last post:  Leonard, Mark. "What Does China Think?" PublicAffairs.  2008.  Page 23.

[Weiying Zhang] has a favourite allegory to explain China's reforms. He tells a story about a village whose residents rely on horses to carry out all their chores. The village elders, who had tirelessly argued that their horses were better than the zebras used in a neighbouring village, would harangue anyone who questioned their claim. Over time, however, the elders realized that the neighbouring zebras were, in fact, superior to the idle and greedy horses which they had so actively promoted. So, after years of hailing the virtues of the horse, they decided to embrace the zebra. The only obstacle was converting the villagers who had been brainwashed over decades into worshipping the horse. The elders developed an ingenious plan. Every night, while the villagers slept, they painted black stripes on a few horses. When the villagers awoke, shocked at the presence of evil beasts in their midst - the leaders reassured them that the animals were not really zebras, just the same old horses adorned with a few harmless stripes.  The villagers gradually became accustomed to the presence of the strangely decorated animals in their midst. After a long interval the village leaders began to replace the painted horses with real zebras.  These prodigious animals transformed the villagers' fortunes, increasing productivity and creating wealth all around. Only many years later - long after all the horses had been replaced with zebras and the village had benefited from many years of prosperity - did the elders summon the citizenry to proclaim that their community was a village of zebras, and that zebras were good and horses bad.