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The Ant and the Grasshopper

Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by Cutter, Mar 31, 2010.

  1. Cutter

    Cutter New Member

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    THE ANT AND THE
    GRASSHOPPER
    This one is a little different... Two Different Versions...
    ...Two Different Morals
    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 STORY: Be
    responsible for yourself!

    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?
    Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody
    cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green...'
    ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house
    where the news stations film the group singing, "We
    shall overcome." Then Rev. Jeremiah
    Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God 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.
    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.
    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 ramshackle, once prosperous
    and once peaceful, neighborhood.
    The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.
    MORAL OF THE
    STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.
     
  2. windcatcher

    windcatcher New Member

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    :applause::applause::applause:
    Well said!
     
  3. Eric B

    Eric B Active Member
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    That is an incredibly racist piece of propaganda, made by substituting one color for another; not even well camouflaged! (And now I see, updated for Obama. Who did this, the Hutaree?)

    Welfare was reformed over a decade ago, and never was a significant portion of tax revenue, so what else do people want? And welfare recipients (or other programs) were hardly these carefree grasshoppers. And not everyone is poor because they played the summer away.
    And it forgets all the corporate welfare, government waste that benefits government leadership and even private interest, etc. But we're still blaming one group of people for everything. (Else, who are all these "grasshoppers" who are apparently draining ALL the money?)
    So now, they end up bringing the entire free world down with them. Maybe they should all be destroyed first; better call the Hutaree!

    Why don't you lay off these people, already!

    Perhaps it is the Queen Ants who have milked their own species, and then deceive them into blaming the grasshoppers. Or perhaps the grasshoppers in the story are really the rich and powerful (whether business OR government), and everyone else, the ants.

    The fact that Obama was even able to get in made me think better about race relations in this country, but now with something like this still passing around, I really have to reconsider that.

    Why post something like this?
     
    #3 Eric B, Mar 31, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2010
  4. targus

    targus New Member

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    Where do you see racism in this?
     
  5. Cutter

    Cutter New Member

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    Is that the best you can come up with, Eric? When I first started reading your response I thought it was tongue in cheek, then I realized that you were actually being serious. Until blacks and their defenders can get beyond "race holding" and stop blaming every little (and big) criticism that is made against a person of color as racism, there will never be any progress made in race relations. Martin Luther King said something along the lines of being judged by one's character and not the color of one's skin. The problem with being able to do that is a person of color will not allow it to happen, because of their continual whining and complaining that anyone that disagrees with them is motivated by racism. Please, if you have a valid argument with the OP, present it intelligently and logically. If all you can do is cry racism, you place yourself in a bad light...OOPS...(no racism intended)
     
  6. windcatcher

    windcatcher New Member

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    I don't see the 'color' in this story other than 'green' which could be a reference to environmentalism. I didn't know Obama was a race. I certainly don't know the difference between blacks or whites (or any other race for that matter) tax dollars being taken from their labor to support any who could work and should work but find excuses and ways to live off all of us. This could be directed as well to the corporate heads and banking heads or government influences who have brought us economically to our knees while they sponge off us and live off the bailouts for their errors and the interest and manipulations of stocks.... without contributing their labor for their earnings. I don't see race as having anything to do with laziness or ignorance or arrogance or crafty advantage. What I do see is individuals with choices..... and they come in all colors and origins.

    So if you 'see' something that I don't..... then it is you who has the problem with stereotypes..... and you see some people as being 'this' and others as being 'that'.

    Eric...... where is your balance? Who or what is unstabilizing you from what should be your center?
     
  7. J.D.

    J.D. Active Member
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    I saw this at americanvision.org. Is that where you got it from?
     
  8. Cutter

    Cutter New Member

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    Someone emailed the text to me today without credit as to where it came from.
     
  9. Eric B

    Eric B Active Member
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    OK, here's the problem; you all think this is brand new, (and probably that I'm only reacting because of the mention of Obama). It is clear from the above that at least two of you are seeing this for the first time.

    I first saw this about 10 years ago, on a racist site, possibly a militia, or some sort of neo-"Citizen" group. Notice how I said it was "updated" to include Obama.
    And one thing that was edited out was the mention of "NAAGB" (National Association for the Advancement of Green Bugs), which is clearly a reference to a certain race through one of its political organizations. And in this printing, they forgot to remove the "green bugs" later on. It has nothing to do with environmentalism! And "we shall overcome"? Where did that song come from? Hence, they're referring to a race and just changed the color. And the rhetoric is that which has always been used to refer to "Welfare", which people associate with minorities.

    Just look at the typical rhetoric that was so quickly thrown up, above, about blacks and their defenders, "whining". Right there, an ignorant stereotype! Never mind, that it's the conservatives who are doing the most complaining and blaming about everything. You have 12 years of Reagan-Bush, we win the Cold War, Welfare is reformed, we get tax breaks, continue to enjoy being the richest nation on earth, and all these "blessings" Windcatcher and Dragoon keep reading off to me elsewhere, and then eight more years of Republicans, (but now even they are "no better than the liberals"), and you all still complain like you're already in a socialist nation and 90% or your money is being taxed and given to some "lazy grasshoppers". (Has the ant's fate happened to anyone here, or the people writing this stuff? If not; then what are you saying?) Where's the "thankfulness to God" at? All anyone is doing is pointing fingers at others!
    What "people of color" are doing all this whining? Sharpton and Jackson? And I have not even heard much of them lately. Wright, now? He's just one person who had his moment. Most of the people are working and improving themselves, and caught in the same middle-class struggle as everyone else.
    It's all in your minds, or Rush and others who do your thinking for you. They're the loudest voices in the nation, so any "whining" you hear is coming from them!
    However, some judgment of the whole race is made, (and right here) and then you wonder why anyone would complain in the first place?

    And whatever doesn't refer to race is attacking a class (ACORN, people getting rich off the backs of the grasshoppers, etc). which M.L King later realized was more at the root of the problem than race! (and that was when he became 'dangerous' enough to finally be eliminated). But people scream about the "class" card as much as the race card! After all, that's associated with the Marxists. So the only "truth" left, is that rich Americans are the true victims of everyone else's evil, and the only ones who have any right to "whine" about anything.

    Misunderstandings like this (as well as the tension that results) would be avoided if people checked where this stuff came from, and recognized the code language, instead of just blindly dittoing everything that comes along and sounds like it relates to their concerns. If futuristic eschatology is true, you all could well find yourselves following Antichrist that way, because he will use language that appeals to th emasses, and not just the liberal masses.
     
    #9 Eric B, Mar 31, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2010
  10. windcatcher

    windcatcher New Member

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    Well! It's about time. You presented this point more clearly!

    It is not that I agree with you on every point here... but this was the first that I ever recall seeing this.... and I didn't know of a prior history.
     
  11. Dragoon68

    Dragoon68 Active Member

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    Shame on those racists insects for being different!

    Come on, EricB, read the message instead!
     
  12. Cutter

    Cutter New Member

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    Sorry Eric, I'm still not falling for this over sensitive wailing about the history of this tale and how that it in anyway was meant to offend a race or class. It is what it is. When you take it, as it is, you will see that there is a lot of truth in it.
    Instead of a person being able to agree with the truth, they sometimes have to resort to victimhood as a means to undermine the truth. I see it played out over and over, the older I get, people are so supersensitive. We've become a nation of weenies...:(
    Go grab a bottle of milk and a blanket. Maybe in the morning you will feel better.:sleep:
     
  13. Trotter

    Trotter <img src =/6412.jpg>

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    Faith:
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    Last I checked everyone on earth was of the same race, human. We are all descended from Adam. Skin color doesn't mean diddly and it certainly does not split humanity into separate races. A white man's heart is identical to a black man's heart, as well as a yellow man's or a red man's or whatever... we all bleed red.

    What the origin of the piece in the OP, it is used here to show how the Democratic socialist agenda is "redistributing the wealth" which is a catchphrase for "taking it from those who earned it and giving it to those who have not earned it". I know just as many white Democrats as non-white, and the same goes for Republicans and independents. Skin color doesn't mean a thing as far as the current socialist agenda goes.
     
  14. Eric B

    Eric B Active Member
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    And as I pointed out, you see "victimhood" played out over and over in conservative circles, and much louder and more effective than any liberal "whining". You all are the ones claiming someone is trying to take all your money and give it to someone else. "Waaah! Unfair; Billy took my toy!" The irony is, the only ones I see gaining any money are those at the top, and those are the ones your side claims "deserve" it, and also claims are the biggest victims of this "unfair" "redistribution' scheme. And even when they fail, and still live it up (bank and auto bailouts), that too is blamed on the democrats.

    But then, this analogy should not be read as an attack against a race or class, then tell us, who are all these "grasshoppers" getting all of your money? What is this "truth" you keep talking about? Who is it? Again, have or are any of you really suffering the fate of the ant? If not, how can you muster the gall to tell someone else to get a bottle of milk and a blanket?

    This entire politics forum is basically a huge gripefest, and I have until now, rarely been involved, so don't throw that "victimization" rhetoric at me because I for once voice an opinion about something.
    Yeah, but the story is attacking/focusing on the supposed recipients/beneficiaries of the "redistribution" as well. The "grasshoppers" are villified for being "lazy", and are obviously some poor bracket that does not know how to care for the riches they have milked off of the ants. That clearly is not describing political leaders (who are apart of the upper class), so it is not just the government being implicated there; and it is a total load of hooey!

    If one wants to criticize the Democrats, fine, but don't go erecting this imaginary class of people as the scapegoat. There is no one group of people getting all of your money unfairly. The government (both parties) and big business together milks the people of all races and classes. Their tactic is to get you to look at some "grasshopper" to place all the blame on, so you don't see what they're doing to you. Now, if you're saying the grasshopper is not a particular race or class, then you have got to reconsider whether it is really a fitting analogy, and where the original writers were coming from, and if it can be transfered to a new context. Else, people who see what's really behind it are going to react.
     
  15. Cutter

    Cutter New Member

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    The grasshoppers are those that refuse to be responsible and are slothful. Even the Bible says, go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise...
    Is the Bible racist, too?
    Except for those who are handicapped and those who were born into prosperity we were all born into this world with nothing except an opportunity to work and prove ourselves as responsible stewards. Some are producers and some are moochers. When the moochers outnumber the producers what are we going to do? Something you need to carefully consider because the Gov't does not produce any money. The only funds the Gov't has access to are yours and mine. I don't know about you, but if I work for mine I believe I should be able to spend it on my own needs and give to what charities and responsible institutions I choose. Unfortunately this Administration thinks they can spend my money better than I can and it is promoting the redistribution of wealth. I am not not a communist and was not born into a communist country, but attitudes such as yours are leading us down the road to ruin economically...:BangHead:
     
    #15 Cutter, Apr 1, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 1, 2010
  16. billwald

    billwald New Member

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    When it comes to trash class American leaches, the majority are white.
     
  17. Dragoon68

    Dragoon68 Active Member

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    Really? What statistics support your theory? Is it based on raw numbers or on proportion or what? What does it mean if it is true? Would it mean the same thing if it happened to be that the proportion of another race was greater or would the game change then?
     
    #17 Dragoon68, Apr 1, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 1, 2010
  18. Eric B

    Eric B Active Member
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    Still, who are all of these "moochers"? If you can point them out, then yes, we can use those scriptures with them. You even mention something about them outnumbering the "producers". Who are all of these people? It is a product of someone's imagination, or empty rhetoric, or what?
    How can my attitude lead to economic ruin, when I'm not saying the govt. should give all the money to some "moochers", which I can't do, when I don't even know who all of these "moochers" are. Unless you're talking about people like the bank and auto execs; but I certainly don't say they should be given our money, and even though you criticize Obama for bailing them, still, those are not the sort of people I have ever seen your side refer to as "moochers", or that the "grasshopper" story is aimed at. In fact; they're usually grouped in as among the victimized "productive ants".
     
  19. Dragoon68

    Dragoon68 Active Member

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    In 2006, according to WikiAnswers - an undisputed keeper of grasshopper statistics, 5.3% of the light colored grasshopper population were on welfare, 27.8% of the dark colored grasshopper population were on welfare, and 11.5% of the light colored grasshoppers population that speak a Spanish type language were on welfare.

    In 2003, according to the USDA - a distributor of large amounts of public money, the proportion was between 7.3 and 11.3%, between 23.4 and 30.5%, and between 22.2 and 25.4% respectively for the same groupings of grasshoppers in metro and non-metro areas respectively. Plus they also listed all other varieties of grasshoppers at between 12.8 and 19.5%.

    My conclusion is that there are some of all types of grasshoppers feeding off the work of the ants but some types are from two to four times more likely to do so.

    That, of course, will soon change under Obamacare's "change" and other wonders of socialism as more ants morph into grasshoppers moocher class and the remaining ants work harder to feed them all.
     
  20. Eric B

    Eric B Active Member
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    So grasshoppers are not only people of a particular race, or people on welfare, for only different percentages of these grasshoppers are on welfare. Of course, not just one race, but one race is leads the others. And then, something about ants becoming grasshoppers.

    So we still do not have a clear answer on who exactly these grasshoppers are, or who the ants are either for that matter. Is it the class bracket? Are the ants the rich, and the grasshoppers everyone else? And figures as low as 5-25 percent. (which doesn't sound quite right for those dark grasshoppers. A whole quarter of them on welfare? And not forgetting that welfare was reformed, and they usually have to work for it now. These numbers can be interpreted many ways; such as what is being called "welfare"? There are many different programs under that umbrella).
    Still, I surely still don't think this is where all the money is going, and that it will pull the whole free world down. Those Queen Ants, with all their money and power are more in a position to do that; hence why the need was felt to bail them out.
     
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