There comes a time when the people of a country say, this is enough. Sure, there are many things we could do forcing other people to give us their money. Oh, we say, you earn a lot more than I do, why shouldn't you pay more than me in taxes. Should they pay more than us for groceries? Maybe rich people should have to pay $15.00 for a gallon of milk? No, fair is fair. There is a philosophy in our country that people, like Romney, are bad cause they make a lot of money. Yes, but he also employed a lot of people, he was a job creator. But even the Republicans saw him as a bad guy cause he made money. No, that is the American dream, to work hard and not be punished for your work. And if you happen to have the skills, dreams, and goals that allow you to make more money, should you be punished? Not if you do it morally, legally and ethically. I got this story from a friend. It is tongue in cheek, but I think we forget that the rich should be treated fairly too. And I hope if I ever achieve rich that I will be treated fairly. Enjoy the story.
TRADITIONAL 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 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 warm and well fed while others are 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."
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry & 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 and 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.
Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow. 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 peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2008.
5 comments:
Like I said, we should support those who are trying to get out of poverty, especially those who are there only because of the disparities in inflation vs. pay rate or because they're not yet graduated from school. grrr... Nate tells me often about his time in Kentucky as a missionary and being amazed to see people get married then automatically go to sign up for welfare... that is just they way they live, and for people like that, make them at least seriously look for work or don't pay them to sit on their butts all day long!
That is something our govt has allowed, and we tend to fall into it too. We have to be so careful.
I am so grateful for the welfare I received when I needed it- it helped my baby's to be born in a healthy way, gave us food when we needed it...but now, I have paid triple the amount that I ever took in taxes. I pay about 30% of my income and it infuriates me. I think our country is so turned upside down and I totally agree with the story about the grasshopper. The whole idea for welfare has been so twisted now that I don't think that most of the people who use it even know what it is there for in the first place.
We have friends that had a son with serious medical issues. Through no fault of their own there were many expenses. I don't mind the taxes going to them. But to help someone who isn't in need, just wants to sit on their backside and get fed, that irks. We are supposed to educate children who are tending neices and nephews instead of doing homework, so sister, brother mom and dad can go to the bar irks me. Parents that don't read to their kids and expect me to undo years of neglect and abuse in a short time and educate them irks me. Your heart hurts as you want to take them all home with you just so they know what it is like to be a kid. It irks me.
you like the word irks, don't you? :) I totally agree with you on the whole neglectful parent thing. Some days... like today... I feel horrible cause I haven't been able to really play with Damian or read to him or anything, then I remember that at least I'm here, teaching him, and that I usually do take the time to play with him and read to him. Makes me not feel so bad to know there are worse parents out there. I think that's why I love watching Nanny 911 and stuff like that, I'm reminded that I'm not too bad after all in comparision...
I think this is something I will really struggle with as a teacher tho... I can't even imagine how bad that situation is going to be when I'm finally a teacher, but parents who don't support, talk to or even care what their children do each day just annoy me to the hilt and I'd want to just yell at them till they wake up and do what's right!!
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