The Ant & the Grasshopper.
Most of you heard the old version of this story when you were young. Just in case you missed it, here is how it goes:
OLD VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE OLD STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
However, life has changed. If a modern version were written, accounting for the political climate today and how (some) people view life, here is how the story would sound:
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
The grasshopper appears on Oprah and everybody cries when he sings, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film a group of protesters singing “We shall overcome.”
Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight. Not to mention the “religious right” and those who actually pay the taxes in this country.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. (Of course they do- the top 20% of earners who work the hardest should have to pay 90% of the nation’s taxes.) They also draft a special piece of legislation giving the grasshopper a certain amount of money each month to help pay for those vital necessities like food and health care. They take the money from military member’s pay.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once prosperous and peaceful neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses as all of the ants have disappeared and the grasshoppers refuse to work. This brings down the rest of the free world.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2012.
Most of you heard the old version of this story when you were young. Just in case you missed it, here is how it goes:
OLD VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE OLD STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
However, life has changed. If a modern version were written, accounting for the political climate today and how (some) people view life, here is how the story would sound:
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
The grasshopper appears on Oprah and everybody cries when he sings, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film a group of protesters singing “We shall overcome.”
Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight. Not to mention the “religious right” and those who actually pay the taxes in this country.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. (Of course they do- the top 20% of earners who work the hardest should have to pay 90% of the nation’s taxes.) They also draft a special piece of legislation giving the grasshopper a certain amount of money each month to help pay for those vital necessities like food and health care. They take the money from military member’s pay.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once prosperous and peaceful neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses as all of the ants have disappeared and the grasshoppers refuse to work. This brings down the rest of the free world.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2012.
