tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post8237594038341838874..comments2024-01-28T00:20:40.933-08:00Comments on Agoraphilia: Aesop Econ: The Grasshopper and the AntsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-33480138543581719472012-07-07T13:53:28.295-07:002012-07-07T13:53:28.295-07:00"The second is that it is racist, sexist, age..."The second is that it is racist, sexist, ageist, pro-natalist and pro-marriage."<br /><br />You forgot "pro-employee-of-a-big-company". Insurance is brutal if you're either working for a small company, or if you're trying to strike it out on your own. Ironically, our situation began when the Feds decided to tell people how much they can make; to be more competitive, companies offered health insurance as an extra benefit.<br /><br />As someone who understands statistics, I appreciate insurance; but as someone who sees the mess caused by government regulation (indeed, regulation after regulation to "fix" the things that regulation broke in the first place!) I just see a big, corrupt mess.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-12393325674817278562011-10-08T17:25:16.377-07:002011-10-08T17:25:16.377-07:00I note that the Aesop fable has nothing to do with...I note that the Aesop fable has nothing to do with insurance and everything to do with 401Ks. Most of the world's denizens are, and always have been, mostly uninsured, and most of them would be condemned as idiots if they subscribed to insurance before putting food on the table or getting an education for themselves and their brood.<br /><br />There are at least two things about insurance that make it a stupid thing to participate in. <br /><br />The first is that it pays out some 50% of every premium dollar. <br /><br />The second is that it is racist, sexist, ageist, pro-natalist and pro-marriage. For example, there is no way in hell that a single, childfree, white male in his 20s should ever consider health insurance. There is no way that a Black man would ever participate in Social Security or Medicare if he had a choice, since he is expected to die just a few years after qualifying for benefits. He knows he is lifelong exploited for the sake of Whites, Women, Breeders, the never-having-worked spouses and the Disabled, who all reap huge undeserved benefits from the hobbling of his working life.jimbinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09684677214800358793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-7626014883430624182011-09-25T15:40:23.069-07:002011-09-25T15:40:23.069-07:00I always thought the grasshopper died because of h...I always thought the grasshopper died because of his laziness.Philip Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12118550326045800125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-31685847769166612252011-09-23T11:51:55.240-07:002011-09-23T11:51:55.240-07:00Glen Whitman said... Ken, does that mean that you&...<em>Glen Whitman said... Ken, does that mean that you're sympathetic to the original (non-Disney) version of the fable?</em><br /><br />In principle, yes, although in practice I'd almost certainly help the grasshopper rather than turn him away - at least the first time.<br /><br />My childhood reaction was recognizing moral hazard (without knowing that's what it was called) and that it seemed a kind of pointless movie since anyone with half a brain would see past the ostensible point about hard work and realize that the grasshopper wound up sitting pretty, with a token "you were right, I was wrong". <br /><br />I'm a bit intrigued by the timing of the movie's release (1934) - I don't know enough about Walt Disney's politics at that time, but is there deliberate commentary here on depression-era programs and the New Deal?Ken Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04757346870927683443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-43145982103345193182011-09-23T11:16:20.418-07:002011-09-23T11:16:20.418-07:00As I read it, the ants first inquired as to how th...As I read it, the ants <em>first</em> inquired as to how the grasshopper came to be in this situation, and only <em>then</em> refused him aid. So if the grasshopper had given a different answer, the ants might have helped him.Glen Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425907466575991113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-81377967177682212622011-09-23T10:49:53.716-07:002011-09-23T10:49:53.716-07:00You said, "Aesop’s ants follow a similar poli...You said, "Aesop’s ants follow a similar policy; they do not refuse the grasshopper aid outright, but instead inquire as to how the grasshopper’s situation arose." That statement is not exactly true. Aesop said, "They [the ants] then said [to the grasshopper] in derision: “If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in the winter.” You are right in saying the ants inquire as to how the grasshopper’s situation arose, but you are not right in saying the ants do not refuse the grasshopper aid outright, since, in fact, the ants do refuse the grasshopper aid outright, or at least that’s the way I interpret “you [the grasshopper] must dance supperless to bed in the winter.”Philip Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12118550326045800125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-85785631188158623552011-09-23T07:43:12.221-07:002011-09-23T07:43:12.221-07:00Outside of the tropics, most grasshoppers do not s...Outside of the tropics, most grasshoppers do not survive long enough during the winter for hunger to be an issue. The cold either kills them outright, or slows them down enough for them to be easy prey. Also the grasshopper's singing in the summer is done to attract mates. Maybe the grasshopper's choices were rational. Longevity doesn't guaranty that you'll pass along your genes.Stuhlmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16339197643584851985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-34312849108841510642011-09-22T05:25:06.092-07:002011-09-22T05:25:06.092-07:00I do see the dilemma, but I have my view nonethele...I do see the dilemma, but I have my view nonetheless. (As do "The Ant and the Grasshopper" and Ron Paul.)Ranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01369980917358096502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-74983043561075606412011-09-21T23:29:27.450-07:002011-09-21T23:29:27.450-07:00Ken, does that mean that you're sympathetic to...Ken, does that mean that you're sympathetic to the original (non-Disney) version of the fable?<br /><br />Ran, yes, I give you points for consistency. But I think the wisest position is to realize there really is a dilemma here. To regard Paul's position as self-evidently wrong disregards one prong of the dilemma.Glen Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425907466575991113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-29418360523412288222011-09-21T22:59:04.156-07:002011-09-21T22:59:04.156-07:00Having first been exposed to it via this Disney sh...Having first been exposed to it via this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRDnZLOikfw&feature=related" rel="nofollow">Disney short</a> during 1st or 2nd grade, I thought the story was a little bit stupid.<br /><br />That's because the Disney version screws up the moral, and just about gets it backward - the grasshopper gets a minor scolding from the Queen Ant, but essentially gets away with his lack of effort.<br /><br />If you're not up for watching the whole thing, you can <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRDnZLOikfw&feature=player_detailpage#t=354s" rel="nofollow">skip directly to</a> the resolution.Ken Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04757346870927683443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-91781729315766872212011-09-21T20:28:27.603-07:002011-09-21T20:28:27.603-07:00> I find it interesting that so many people -- ...> I find it interesting that so many people -- who presumably heard this fable in their childhood and thought it wise – found Paul’s answer reprehensible.<br /><br />Wait, did you find "The Ant and the Grasshopper" wise when you were young? I always found it heartless, an artifact of a crueler and less enlightened time.<br /><br />Do I and my liberally bleeding heart therefore get a pass for finding Ron Paul's statement reprehensible?Ranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01369980917358096502noreply@blogger.com