THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER 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 grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold. 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 he's 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 others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in is 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 as the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Al Gore exclaims in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and calls 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 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, rumbles 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. ------------------
You may want to lay off the obvious racist overtones there. People of all different backgrounds are on this board.
Where are the 'obvious racist overtones'? Are you assuming the grasshopper in this case is black? Sounds like you're the racist. This kind of thinking is being fueled by all this crap going on in Florida. Normal, decent people all across the country are becoming PISSED OFF that so many are feeling sorry and making excuses for a few individuals who can't follow instructions and fill out a simple freaking ballot. This situation passed ridiculous a long time ago. Get ready for a huge backlash to all this b.s. . '94 is going to look like nothing compared to what the effect this situation will have on the next election. ------------------ People like to slam Bush's education record, but at least Texans know how to punch holes.
Oprah? Jesse Jackson? Government housing? No, OF COURSE THAT ISN'T RACIALLY BIASED!!!! The "spiders" don't sound at all like black crack addicts. I don't remember the EEOC saying more white people need to be hired. "It's Not Easy Being Green" is certainly directed at all us white folk. C'mon, Freak, I know you aren't that dim. As for the fable, poor whitey. Poor, sad, whitey. Give me a break. I want any white man to stand up and tell me he thinks he would have an easier time in this life if he was black or Hispanic. How many of us white guys get routinely pulled over by police when driving through white neighborhoods? How many of us white guys have ever been terrorized simply because of the color of our skin? That little fable is an insult to my MANY African-American and Latino friends, in particular. It's bad enough that they get treated differently because they look different, but to claim that we white folks are worse off as a result is just pathetic. Try again. ------------------ Save Our Rockets and Comets SaveOurRockets.com
No, I'm not assuming the grasshopper is black. Racism is not strictly a black or white issue. Racism is when people make unfair assumptions about others based solely on their race, whatever it may be. This particular fable makes an example of the particular behavior exhibited by the grasshopper and his fellow green bugs. That's racism. Now, that being said, the pointed references to Oprah Winfrey, Jesse Jackson, "We Shall Overcome" and affirmative action hiring practices do make it rather obvious that this is a thinly veiled story about African Americans and the way they are treated in our society. I see. Someone writes a story that, for all intents and purposes, implies that one group of people is content to "play the summer away" until things get rough. Then they go on Oprah, pray with Jesse Jackson, sing protest songs, demand affirmative action, take over the established majority's homes and food supplies, and eventually die of a drug overdose. But I'm the racist? Come on. You can do better than that, can't you? As far as your Florida comments, I consider myself a "normal, decent" person and the only thing that pisses me off is when others refuse to see beyond their own narrow beliefs. Bring it on!
I think people of ALL colors are worse off from people who refuse to take responsibility in their live's and for their actions. I didn't mean to offend any one race of people and apologize to anyone who took it that way. ------------------
DA: I totally agree with you on that one. Self responsibility is a pet peeve of mine. I just don't think that putting what you did in the context you did served that purpose. It served more to state that the only one's who do not accept responsibility are minorities and that is simply a generalization that isn't really fair. ------------------ Save Our Rockets and Comets SaveOurRockets.com
My apologies. It seems I did not read that as carefully as I would have liked the first time. It does appear to be a bit questionable. However, I still say this is rather tame compared to what you can expect should this situation continue to escalate. People are going to become increasingly irritated and these types of feelings are going to be brought out, which is not a good thing. ------------------ People like to slam Bush's education record, but at least Texans know how to punch holes.
So it's OK for you to mis-read something and make a mistake but not for Floridians? [This message has been edited by outlaw (edited November 11, 2000).]
This post was deleted by me because people found it racially motivated. Believe me that race was the last thing on my mind when I posted it.I was looking at the side of the fable that dealt with self responsibility and I failed to see the under lying message.So again my sincerest apology. ------------------
I have yet to see TheFreak blame DARockets for "misleading him intentionally" then request the entire BBS be removed so everyone can "re-do this posting thing" so it can turn out how TheFreak would like it to. In fact, all he did was apologize, which Palm Beach voters have yet to do. Nice try though. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
Nice try at what exactly? I'm not out to assasinate anyone's character. Just tired of everyone attacking these people's intelligence.
