Another Aesop Fable & Moral

When I read this Aesop Fable to my kids, I was reminded of a scene in an Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I doubt anyone else will see the parallel, but I thought I would share anyway.

The Goose With The Golden Eggs

A Farmer went to the nest of his goose to see whether she had laid an egg. To his surprise he found, instead of an ordinary goose egg, an egg of solid gold. Seizing the golden egg, he rushed to the house in great excitement to show it to his wife.

Every day thereafter the goose laid an egg of pure gold. But, as the farmer grew rich, he grew greedy. And thinking that if he killed the goose he could have all her treasure at once, he cut her open only to find – nothing at all.

Moral: “The Greedy Who Want More Loose All.“

Atlas Shrugged (a small portion of Chapter X)

“Looking down, they could see the last convulsions: the lights of the cars were darting through the streets, like animals trapped in a maze, frantically seeking an exit, the bridges were jammed with cars, the approaches to the bridges were veins of massed headlights, glittering bottlenecks stopping all motion, and the desperate screaming of sirens reached faintly to the night of the plane. The news of the continent’s severed artery had now engulfed the city, men were deserting their posts, trying, in panic, to abandon New York, seeking escape where all roads were cut off and escape was no longer possible.

“The plane was above the peaks of the skyscrapers when suddenly, with the abruptness of a shudder, as if the ground had parted to engulf it, the city disappeared from the face of the earth. It took them a moment to realize that the panic had reached the power stations – and that the lights of New York had gone out.”

If you aren’t familiar with Ayn Rand, this one is a hefty tome to start with. However, it has some really profound ideas and possibly prophetic stories. She was more optimistic than I in many ways. In an excerpt from a 1964 interview with Playboy magazine, Rand states “What we have today is not a capitalist society, but a mixed economy – that is, a mixture of freedom and controls, which, by the presently dominant trend, is moving toward dictatorship. The action in Atlas Shrugged takes place at a time when society has reached the stage of dictatorship. When and if this happens, that will be the time to go on strike, but not until then.” [See Wikipedia's Atlas Shrugged Article under "Setting" for this citation.]

But, anyway, this was the scene that came to mind when I read this Aesop Fable. I don’t know if anyone else would make that tie.

The House Dog & The Wolf

I was reading Aesop’s Fables with my kids the past couple weeks. Many of them are really profound when you stop to think about them and their morals. For instance, we read the one I’m copying below. It reminded me of what we have been facing as a nation since 9/11/2001 and what we still face economically.

The House Dog & The Wolf

The moon was shining very bright one night when  lean, half-starved wolf, whose ribs were almost sticking through his skin, chanced to meet a plump, well-fed house dog. After the first compliments had been passed between them, the wolf inquired:

“How is it, cousin dog, that you look so sleek and contented? Try as I may, I can barely find enough food to keep me from starvation.”

“Alas, cousin wolf,” said the house dog, “you lead too irregular a life. Why do you not work steadily as I do?”

“I would gladly work steadily if I could only get a place,” said the wolf.

“That’s easy,” replied the dog. “Come with me to my master’s house and help me keep the thieves away at night.”

“Gladly,” said the wolf, “for as I am living in the woods I have having a sorry time of it. There is nothing like having a roof over one’s head and a bellyful of victuals always at hand.”

“Follow me,” said the dog.

While they were trotting along together the wolf spied a mark on the dog’s neck. Out of curiosity he could not forbear asking what had caused it.

“Oh, that’s nothing much,” replied the dog. “Perhaps my collar was a little tight, the collar to which my chain is fastened – “

“Chain!” cried the wolf in surprise. “You don’t mean to tell me that you are not free to rove where you please?”

“Why, not exactly,” said the dog, somewhat shamefacedly. “You see, my master thinks I am a bit fierce, and ties me up in the daytime. But he lets me run free at night. It really is very convenient for everybody. I get plenty of sleep during the day so that I can watch better at night. I really am a great favorite in the house. The master feeds me off his own plate, and the servants are continually offering me handouts from the kitchen. But wait, where are you going?”

As the wolf started back toward the forest he said: “Good night to you, my poor friend, you are welcome to your dainties – and your chains. As for me, I prefer my freedom to your fat.”

The moral of the story is “Lean freedom is better than fat slavery.“

Grim Thoughts / Musings on Kids

I responded to a friend’s email about politics the other night with a hugely negative overtone. As I went on and on about how neither major presidential candidate will be able to get the US out of the mess we are in, I realized how depressing it would be to read. So, I ended up by attaching some smiling pictures of my kids – including one of my youngest sitting in a pile of spices that he had emptied out of an almost full container of parsley (or was it oregano?). I listed a few things about each kid and finished with some thoughts on what keeps me going.

So, first some required reading:
- How did we get into this mess?
- One person’s opinion on what is coming.

Now, what I ended on, my kid notes – edited slightly for privacy.
Child #4 says only, “DaDa,” but understands quite a bit of what is said around him. He is a climber and has a habit of climbing chairs and other furniture to get at things he shouldn’t be into.

Child #3 continues to be quite verbose and is showing a memory just as impressive as Child #1′s at the same age. Her mind works at levels I had not imagined a two year old’s could.

Child #2 continues to be my artistic, imaginative, and soulful child. She is a girly-girl (always wearing a dress) but also the one who searches out every bug/worm/insect and animal within sight.

Child #1 is a leader (although not always a good one) and a great helper. She loves to go for bike rides with her dad and play with the oodles of children on our block.

They are all very different from one another and challenge me to be a better person and mom every day. It is amazing to be there when your child first grasps that _all by herself_, she can figure out that certain letters strung together tell a story that is fun to read! It is rewarding to see the smile on another’s face when she ‘beats the clock’ in her oral arithmetic practice. The little impish grin on a smudged face when you find her making mud pies with your cooking utensils is priceless. And everyone should see the backward “I know I’m not supposed to do this, but I’m going to do it anyway” look that my small boy gives me when he heads towards some forbidden object or destination.

Wish More Would Have Listened

Early this morning, I called my representative’s office in Washington. My request that my congressman continue to vote “No” on the bailout bill and my comments about it were noted by the person on the other end of the line. I had to give my name, address, and telephone number – perhaps for a follow-up letter, perhaps just to make sure I really lived in the correct legislative district to be calling and expressing an opinion.

I was disappointed that the bailout bill passed, but I was not surprised. I was very glad to hear that my representative here in the mid-Central region of the country kept his “no” vote. I called his office back this afternoon to express my thanks.

Read a really great reaction of what this bill means from someone who has been warning (for years) about the economic collapse caused by (among others) the government.

So, now what? Well, Congress has not helped anything with this bill in the long-term. The hole we dug ourselves is still there. In my opinion, there is no way we can avoid reaching the bottom of the hole. The “relief” package passed today will slow our descent some, but may ultimately make the hole deeper and also may make it a longer climb out.

I was able to listen to the second half of the VP debate last night. I thought both parties did a good job of giving their stock lines and pat answers. (I liked Sarah Palin’s “Drill, baby drill.” and “Say it ain’t so, Joe.” I was glad to hear she is still trying to convince John McCain that drilling in Anwar is the right thing to do.) Overall, I was disappointed in the lack of answers and the constant pointing out of how great their running mates are.

I really hope more people look into the third party candidates. Read more about them. Consider voting for them. Libertarian Bob Barr. Independent Ralph Nader. Green Party Nominee Cynthia McKinney. Or, my favorite, Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin.

If you want to know more about what Chuck Baldwin would do as President of the United States of America, view this column to read about it.

Catching Wild Pigs

Not sure who to credit for this one, but some of you have probably seen it go around the ‘net a few times.

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There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the Prof noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime.

In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked:

“Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said that it was no joke.

“You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming.

“When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.

“The pigs, which are used to the free corn, begin to come through the gate to eat the free corn.

“You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught.

“Soon they go back to eating the free corn . They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.”

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America . The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as Social Security, tax credit for unearned income, sugar and other farm subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, Medicare, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

Show Us What You’ve Got, Sarah!

Tonight, Governor Palin, show us that you really are a maverick, a rebel, and a worker for CHANGE. When the “Do you agree with the bailout” question comes, give us your honest answer. Don’t mirror McCain. Don’t give us the line you’ve been briefed to give.

Inspire the American people.

Either this bailout is the right thing to do or it is not. (In my opinion, it is not.) All the “sweeteners” (pork) in the world are not enough to make it right.

Say that and the Republican Party may actually have its next Real Leader.

When You Don’t Know History, You are Doomed to Repeat It

“The Federal Reserve bank protected them at our expense: when “conservative” bankers make profits, they get the benefits; when they are hurt, we pay the costs.”

 

pg 43, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Here’s part of the paragraph before this line.

“In the summer of 1982, large American banks lost close to all their past earnings (cumulatively), about everything they ever made in the history of American banking – everything. They had been lending to South and Central American countries that all defaulted at the same time – “an event of an exceptional nature.” So it took just one summer to figure out that this was a sucker’s business and that all their earnings came from a very risky game. All that while the bankers led everyone, especially themselves, into believing that they were “conservative.” They are not conservative; just phenomenally skilled at self-deception by burying the possibility of a large, devastating loss under the rug. In fact, the travesty repeated itself a decade later, with the “risk-conscious” large bans once again under financial strain, many of them near-bankrupt, after the real-estate collapse of the early 1990s in which the now defunct savings and loan industry required a taxpayer-funded bailout of more than half a trillion dollars.”