The Ant & The Grasshopper

[cliff101]

MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long,
Building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is 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 he is cold and starving.

CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, FOX and ABC show up
To provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper
Next to a video of the ant in his 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.'

Then the “religious and moral leaders” has their group kneel
Down to pray for the grasshopper's  sake. 

The President condemns the ant and blames
the old President,
the opposition parties,
Christopher Columbus,
And the Pope
For the grasshopper's plight.

“Political leaders” exclaim in interviews
With Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back
Of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike
On the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the
Economic Equity & 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 law enforcers
And given to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the government and social “leaders”
pat each other on the back.

The grasshopper and his free-loading friends
Finishing up the last bits of the ant food
While the government house he is in, which, as you recall,
Just happens to be the ant's old house,
Crumbles around them because the grasshopper does not improve or maintain it...

The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again...
The people hope for the worst for him because of his selfish deeds

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 ramshackle, once prosperous
And once peaceful, neighborhood.

The rest of the animal kingdom follows suit and condemn foresight and hard work. 
10 years later, only plants and fish remain in the world.
MORAL OF THE STORY:  If you feel that you must vote, make sure you understand the politician’s platform before you cast the ballot.
 
I've sent this to you because I believe that you are an ant  not a grasshopper!  Make sure that you pass this on to other ants.  Pass it to any (grasshoppers) you know; hopefully one of their kids will read it and move humanity a little bit forward.

[TimeLady Victorious]

I thought the story went something like the ant worked hard all winter, while the grasshopper mooched off his girlfriend who worked at a coffee shop. Then winter came, the ant died of frostbite, and the grasshopper looted his house and pissed on the corpse.