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The Fable of the OWS Grasshoppers
by Kathy Fettke 
November 20, 2011 

Have you heard the new 2012 version of Aesop’s Fable, The Ant and the Grasshopper?  

As you may recall, the original version is about an ant that works hard all summer to build its house and gather food for the winter. The grasshopper pokes fun at the hardworking ant, and chooses to dance and play all summer instead. 

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper, on the other hand, finds itself without food or shelter, and dies out in the cold. 

The moral of this age-old story:  Think ahead so you can take care of yourself and your family! 

The modern-day story is quite different. Here’s how it goes: 

The ant works hard all summer to build its house and gather food for the winter. The grasshopper pokes fun at the hardworking ant, and chooses to dance and play all summer instead. 

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper marches down Main Street and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving. 

News reporters cover the story, broadcasting pictures of the shivering grasshopper 

next to images of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. Citizens are stunned by the sharp contrast. 

How can a country of such immense wealth allow this poor grasshopper to suffer? Kermit the Frog uses his fame and fortune to support the grasshopper with a new hit single, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green.’ 

Grasshoppers everywhere unite to fight for their rights. They march and shout, “Damn those ants! They took what belongs to us!” 

Politicians looking for voters join the grasshopper movement. Together they condemn the ant, along with any politicians who support the ant’s success. 

House and Senate leaders proclaim war against the ant, accusing it of building wealth at the expense of the poor grasshopper. They call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make it pay its fair share. 

They draft the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act, retroactive to the beginning of summer. The ant is also fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs during gathering season. 

With nothing left to pay retroactive and unexpected taxes, the ant’s home is confiscated and given to the grasshopper. 

The story ends with colorful images of the grasshopper and friends enjoying the last bits of the ant’s food at the ant’s table. The ant, however, is no where to be seen. It was forced to migrate to another location where freedom reigns. 

The epilogue is not shown to children, however, because it could cause nightmares. Here’s how the final ending goes: 

The following winter, the government-subsidized grasshopper neighborhood is abandoned and taken over by a gang of spiders. The grasshopper families who have not learned to feed themselves are once again in search of an ant community to take care of them. 

MORAL OF THE STORY: 

Don’t mess with Mother Nature. She loves all her inhabitants equally and offers an abundance of resources for them to enjoy. She encourages them to creatively use their gifts to create a successful lifestyle. 

As the author of this little story, I also love ants and grasshoppers equally. I am also a mother, and have seen first hand how children can get lazy and spoiled when parents do too much for them. 

I believe in the power of the human spirit and that each and every one of us has what it takes to succeed. 

If we are taught that we can only succeed by taking from others, we all fail. 

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