Imagine a Kindergarten class where the teacher gives pixie sticks and soda pop to all the kids, and then leaves the room for a few minutes. When she comes back and finds the classroom trashed, who do you blame?That's a pretty good analogy of our current economy and who's to blame for it, since depending on who you ask will determine the answer you receive.
Democracy:
2 Wolves (House & Senate) and a Sheep voting on what
to have for dinner.
Republic:
Wolves (House, Senate & Executive) taking out a loan
for dinner.
Independents:
Sheep hunting for dinner.
Patriots:
Sheep guarding against Wolves.
Here's a great take on the illegal immigration debate, it certainly puts things a little more in perspective.
Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration. Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely.Only in America today would this rational fly. Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?
Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests...
Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, "I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors. I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hardworking and honest (except for when I broke into your house).
According to the protesters:
You are Required to let me stay in your house
You are Required to add me to your family's insurance plan
You are Required to Educate my kids
You are Required to Provide other benefits to me and to my family (my husband will do all of your yard work because he is also hardworking and honest, except for that breaking in part).
If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my RIGHT to be there.
It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm a hardworking and honest person, except for well, you know, I did break into your house.
And what a deal it is for me! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of cold, uncaring, selfish, prejudiced, and bigoted behavior.
Oh yeah, I DEMAND that you learn MY LANGUAGE! so you can communicate with me.
Tags:
analogy,
immigration,
opinions
The Wild and Free Pigs of the Okefenokee Swamp
Some years ago, about 1900, an old trapper from North Dakota hitched up some horses to his Studebaker wagon, packed a few possessions--especially his traps--and drove south. Several weeks later he stopped in a small town just north of the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. It was a Saturday morning--a lazy day--when he walked into the general store. Sitting around the pot-bellied stove were seven or eight of the town's local citizens.
The traveler spoke. "Gentlemen, could you direct me to the Okefenokee Swamp?"
Some of the old-timers looked at him like he was crazy. "You must be a stranger in these parts," they said.
"I am. I'm from North Dakota," said the stranger.
"In the Okefenokee Swamp are thousands of wild hogs," one old man explained. "A man who goes into the swamp by himself asks to die!" He lifted up his leg. "I lost half my leg here, to the pigs of the swamp."
Another old fellow said, "Look at the cuts on me; look at my arm bit off! Those pigs have been free since the Revolution, eating snakes and rooting out roots and fending for themselves for over a hundred years. They're wild and they're dangerous. You can't trap them. No man dare go into the swamp by himself."
Every man nodded his head in agreement.
The old trapper said, "Thank you so much for the warning. Now could you direct me to the swamp?"
They said, "Well, yeah, it's due south--straight down the road." But they begged the stranger not to go, because they knew he'd meet a terrible fate.
He said, "Sell me ten sacks of corn, and help me load it in the wagon." And they did. Then the old trapper bid them farewell and drove on down the road. The townsfolk thought they'd never see him again.
Two weeks later the man came back. He pulled up to the general store, got down off the wagon, walked in, and bought ten more sacks of corn. After loading it up he went back down the road toward the swamp.
Two weeks later he returned and again bought ten sacks of corn. This went on for a month. And then two months, and three. Every week or two the old trapper would come into town on a Saturday morning, load up ten sacks of corn, and drive off south into the swamp. The stranger soon became a legend in the little village and the subject of much speculation. People wondered what kind of devil had possessed this man, that he could go into the Okefenokee by himself and not be consumed by the wild and free hogs.
One morning the man came into town as usual. Everyone thought he wanted more corn. He got off the wagon and went into the store where the usual group of men was gathered around the stove. He took off his gloves.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I need to hire about ten or fifteen wagons. I need twenty or thirty men. I have six thousand hogs out in the swamp, penned up, and they're all hungry. I've got to get them to market right away."
"You've WHAT in the swamp?" asked the storekeeper, incredulously.
"I have six thousand hogs penned up. They haven't eaten for two or three days, and they'll starve if I don't get back there to feed and take care of them."
One of the old-timers said, "You mean you've captured the wild hogs of the Okefenokee?"
"That's right."
"How did you do that? What did you do?" the men urged, breathlessly.
One of them exclaimed, "But I lost my arm!"
"I lost my brother!" cried another.
"I lost my leg to those wild boars!" chimed a third.
The trapper said, "Well, the first week I went in there they were wild all right. They hid in the undergrowth and wouldn't come out. I dared not get off the wagon. So I spread corn along behind the wagon. Every day I'd spread a sack of corn. The old pigs would have nothing to do with it."
"But the younger pigs decided that it was easier to eat free corn than it was to root out roots and catch snakes. So the very young began to eat the corn first. I did this every day. Pretty soon, even the old pigs decided that it was easier to eat free corn. After all, they were all free; they were not penned up. They could run off in any direction they wanted at any time."
"The next thing was to get them used to eating in the same place all the time. So I selected a clearing, and I started putting the corn in the clearing. At first they wouldn't come to the clearing. It was too far. It was too open. It was a nuisance to them."
"But the very young decided that it was easier to take the corn in the clearing than it was to root out roots and catch their own snakes. And not long thereafter, the older pigs also decided that it was easier to come to the clearing every day."
"And so the pigs learned to come to the clearing every day to get their free corn. They could still subsidize their diet with roots and snakes and whatever else they wanted. After all, they were all free. They could run in any direction at any time. There were no bounds upon them."
"The next step was to get them used to fence posts. So I put fence posts all the way around the clearing. I put them in the underbrush so that they wouldn't get suspicious or upset. After all, they were just sticks sticking up out of the ground, like the trees and the brush. The corn was there every day. It was easy to walk in between the posts, get the corn, and walk back out."
"This went on for a week or two. Shortly they became very used to walking into the clearing, getting the free corn, and walking back out through the fence posts."
"The next step was to put one rail down at the bottom. I also left a few openings, so that the older, fatter pigs could walk through the openings and the younger pigs could easily jump over just one rail. After all, it was no real threat to their freedom or independence. They could always jump over the rail and flee in any direction at any time."
"Now I decided that I wouldn't feed them every day. I began to feed them every other day. On the days I didn't feed them the pigs still gathered in the clearing. They squealed, and they grunted, and they begged and pleaded with me to feed them. But I only fed them every other day. And I put a second rail around the posts."
"Now the pigs became more and more desperate for food. Because now they were no longer used to going out and digging their own roots and finding their own food. They now needed me. They needed my corn every other day. So I trained them that I would feed them every day if they came in through a gate. And I put up a third rail around the fence. But it was still no great threat to their freedom, because there were several gates and they could run in and out at will."
"Finally I put up the fourth rail. Then I closed all the gates but one, and I fed them very, very well. Yesterday I closed the last gate. And today I need you to help me take these pigs to market."
The allegory of the pigs has a serious moral lesson. This story is about federal funds being used to bait, trap, and enslave a once free and independent people. Federal welfare, in its myriad forms, has reduced not only individuals to a state of dependency, but state and local governments are also on the fast track to elimination due to their functions being subverted by the command and control structures of federal revenue sharing programs.
If you go down to the beach early in the morning you can find black crabs. You can put them in your bucket and continue walking on the beach. Now those crabs start thinking, 'we are bumping around in this little bucket making a lot of noise but going nowhere.' Eventually, one crab looks up and thinks, 'There's a whole new world up there. If I could just get my foot up over the edge, I could get out, get my freedom and see the world in my own way.' So he stretches up, pushes a little, and sure enough, gets one foot over the edge. But just as he is about to tip the balance and go over the edge --- a crab from the bottom of the bucket reaches up and pulls him back down. Instead of encouraging him and seeing how they could help each other get to freedom one by one, they pull anyone attempting to get out back down into that confining bucket where death will come quickly.
Unfortunately, many of us live around a bunch of black crabs, ready to ridicule any new idea we have and just as eager to pull us back down to their level of performance. I have found that one of the key characteristics of successful people is that they hang around people who are performing at the level at which they want to perform. There will always be naysayers and whiners; avoid them. Find winners and spend time with them!
Once upon a time, all the animals in a special advanced animal kingdom became very excited about the new school that was being formed for all the animal children. Modern administrators organized the school and adopted a curriculum of activities consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying.
All the animal parents flocked to the school, eager to enroll their children in this new progressive school. After all, they wanted the very best for their offspring. Mr. and Mrs. Duck enrolled their son, Donald Duck, and expected great things from him because he was an excellent swimmer. In fact, he was better than the instructor. However, Donald had been in school only one week when the administrators discovered that he was quite poor in running, jumping and climbing trees. So they made him stay after school and practice those skills. Finally, Donald's webbed feet became so badly worn from climbing trees that he then was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in this school, so no one worried about this except Donald Duck who really loved swimming.
Now, Ronnie Rabbit was at the top of the class in running but ended up having a nervous breakdown because of having to do so much makeup work in swimming. And Sammy Squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed cramps from overexertion and got a "C" in climbing and a "D" in running.
Ernie Eagle was a problem child and was frequently disciplined. In the climbing class, he beat all the others to the top of the trees, but he did not follow the procedures for climbing and insisted on getting to the top of the tree using his own method. He was not a good team player and often went off on his own. His teachers could not understand his desire to see new things and reprimanded him for daydreaming in the classroom. Ultimately he was put on Ritalin to try to make him a better student.
At the end of the year, Freddie the Goldfish could swim exceedingly well and could also run, climb and fly a little. Freddie had the highest overall score and was voted valedictorian of the class.
The neighborhood dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and fetching to the curriculum. They had noticed the emotional strain on the other students and were considering starting a school of their own.
How sad that we often diminish our best gifts by struggling valiantly to develop in someone else's area of ability. It is better to focus on your uniqueness and do that with excellence than to end up with mediocrity in several areas. Use this rule of thumb for organizing your work strategy:
~Work where you are the strongest 80 percent of the time.
~Work where you are learning 15 percent of the time.
~Work where you are weak 5 percent of the time.
