A quick joke…

The Ant And The Grasshopper

*OLD 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 the ant is 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.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

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*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 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 warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

The media shows 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.”

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 has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper’s sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview 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 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 Clinton 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, crumbles 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.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote!

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There’s a tendency in this country, one that is increasingly popular among middle and lower classes, to paint the wealthy as villains of society. They are greedy and they do not concern themselves with the pains and struggles of others as long as they have their yachts and country club memberships. And perhaps a contributing factor to this belief is that some of these actually exist, but the truth is that this number is quite smaller than you might imagine, and a peak into the finances of the average upperclassman might shed a new light on your opinions. In fact, it might serve you well to understand the inner workings of these types.

It’s very easy to be jealous and bitter toward people who have significantly more money than you do, especially when they seem to hoard it for themselves, while you struggle to live comfortably. But let’s look at some facts:

The wealthy pay a significant majority of our taxes, which benefit every American citizen. In fact, the top 5% of income earners actually pay over half of the total tax burden! Example: If you make $31K a year (a lower-middle class average) you are taxed by the Federal Government at 15%. That’s $4,650. But if you work your keester off and nail down a $200K per year job you are taxed 35%,… that’s $70,000. And if you’re one of the fortunate, making $1 million a year, you’ll be paying a hefty $440,000 in taxes! That’s nearly half of your salary!

To my next point. Most charitable organizations and relief efforts are supported largely by the donations of the wealthy, who are MUCH more likely to give than the average citizen. Take this quote about wealthy business owners: “Almost nine in ten survey respondents say they give to meet critical needs and almost as many cite a desire to give back to society. People who amassed their fortunes by starting their own businesses gave an average of $232,206 per year compared to an average donation of $109,745 annually by those who inherited their wealth. Individuals who volunteer 1-50 hours each year donated an average of $31,092 annually, while those volunteering more than 200 hours each year gave an average of $132,086 annually.”

Now, when considering lower-income families, who do much of the complaining about the wealthy, you have to look at how they have directly benefited from their contributions. Low income families get tons of Federal aid. In many cases they not only avoid taxes, they are paid by the government (other people’s taxes). This means they have full use of public schools, roads, police protection, emergency services, lawyers, etc., without paying for it.

TO SUM IT UP…
People who work hard to be successful in life not only pay the majority of federal taxes which keep our country running and support low-income classes, but they give much more to fund efforts to feed the hungry, treat the sick, and fuel research and education. Most of these people are where they are because they, or a parent of theirs, worked hard, made the right choices. They saw opportunities as something to be taken, and did so. They knew that it would require sacrifices and they were willing to make them.

Conversely, people who lack the education and determination necessary to be successful often keep themselves there by seeing themselves as victims, and using their current situations or background as a scapegoat. They demand their entitlement to a piece of the wealth of others. They see opportunity as something that is given, so they wait for it. But when opportunity knocks, they are often unwilling to make the sacrifices it calls for. They want success for nothing, and they will never have it.

Success is a state of mind, and will follow those who want it bad enough. And when that happens, those people who came from nothing and now have everything often feel a duty to give back. However, they should not be forced to. I would prefer that the wealthy give more private donations than required taxes that are collected by the government and distributed at their own agenda. This is why I stand for less taxes on the wealthy. Yes, some of the rich will use it to gain more wealth, but most of the extra money will flow the pipeline. Wealthy people don’t just stick their money in a bank for it to sit. They invest most, spend some, and donate the rest – every penny going back into the market, or to a charity. They usually get tax deductions by donating, which is one way to take money out of the government’s hands and back into the people’s.

Just keep everything in perspective. It’s way too easy to go with the rest of the crowd.

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online sources:http://draginol.joeuser.com/index.asp?c=1&aid=542

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