A Tale for the Time Being

by Ruth Ozeki

subspecies of the Earthquake Catfish is the yonaoshi namazu or World-Rectifying Catfish, which is able to heal the political and economic corruption in society by shaking things up. Belief in the World-Rectifying Catfish was especially prevalent during the early nineteenth century, a period characterized by a weak, ineffective government and a powerful business class, as well as extreme and anomalous weather patterns, crop failures, famine, hoarding, urban riots, and mass religious pilgrimages, which often ended in mob violence. The World-Rectifying Catfish targeted the business class, the 1 percent, whose rampant practices of price-fixing, hoarding, and graft had led to economic stagnation and political corruption. The angry catfish would cause an earthquake, wreaking havoc and destruction, and in order to rebuild, the wealthy would have to let go of their assets, which would create jobs in salvage, rubble-clearing, and construction for the working classes. The redistribution of wealth is illustrated in satirical drawings of the time, which depict the World-Rectifying Catfish forcing wealthy merchants and CEOs to vomit and shit out gold coins, which are being pocketed by laborers.