Life On and Off an Acreage

In-sights into moving from an Acreage back to Town, plus a few things I find of interest.

Two things that horses are scared about:


1. Things that move
2. Things that don't move




Old enough to be eccentric, but not rich enough

April 26, 2011

The Ant and the Grasshopper



ant and grasshopper, aesop fable, ant, grasshopperTHE CLASSIC  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 
he's a fool, and laughs and dances 
And plays the summer away. 

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. 
The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. 

THE CANADIAN  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 
he's a fool, and laughs and dances and 
Plays the summer away. 

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. 
So far, so good, he? 

The shivering grasshopper calls a press  
 
Conference and demands to know why 
The ant should be allowed to be warm   
And well fed while others less fortunate, 
Like him, are cold and  starving. 

The CBC shows up to provide live 
Coverage of the shivering  grasshopper, 
With cuts to a video of the ant in his 
Comfortable warm home with a 
Table laden with food. Canadians are stunned
 
That in a country of such wealth, this poor 
Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while 
Others have plenty. 

The NDP, the CAW and the Coalition 
Against Poverty demonstrate in front 
Of the ant's house. The CBC, 
Interrupting an Inuit cultural festival 
Special from Nunavut with  breaking 
News, broadcasts them singing "We Shall Overcome." 

Jack Layton grants in an interview with 
Mike Duffy that the ant has gotten rich off the
 
Backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax 
Hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share". 

In response to polls, the  Liberal 
Government drafts the Economic 
Equity and Grasshopper 
Anti-Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. 

The ant's taxes are reassessed, and he 
Is also fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as helpers. 
Without enough money to pay both the 
Fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes,  his home
 
Is confiscated by the government. The ant moves to the 
US and starts a successful agribiz company. 

The CBC later shows the now fat grasshopper finishing
 
Up the last of the ant's food, though spring is still months   
Away, while the government house he is in, which just 
Happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him 
Because he hasn't bothered to maintain it. Inadequate 
Government funding is blamed, Bob Rae is appointed to 
Head a commission of enquiry that will cost $10,000,000. 

The grasshopper is soon dead of a drug overdose, the Toronto
 
Star blames it on the obvious failure of government to address 
The root causes of despair arising from social inequity. 

The abandoned house is taken over by a gang of immigrant spiders, 
Praised by the government for enriching Canada 's multicultural
 
Diversity, who promptly set up a marijuana grow op and 
Terrorize the community. 

THE END

8 comments:

  1. Slight error in the story, if the ant moved to the US under the current administration the same thing would happen to him in a few years - the ant would be better off in Australia.

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  2. You nailed that one. What a shame!

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  3. now let us know what you really think! (hehe)

    Hope you had a wonderful Easter Ian. Thanks for checking in to say hello.
    : )

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amen! and Amen! Did I say Amen? :-)

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  5. Glad I finally got around to reading this one. Terrific parable. I'll have to share this one with my husband, he'll LOVE it!

    ReplyDelete

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