Catching Pigs!

[Dr. David]

Catching Pigs!
A thought to remember, Marx said, "Remove one freedom per generation and soon you will have no freedom and no one would have noticed."
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 professor 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 you put corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free food.
"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, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again. 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 supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare entitlements, medicine, drugs, etc., while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

One should always remember two truths: There is no such thing as a free lunch, and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

If you see that all of this wonderful government "help" is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want to share this with your friends.
If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you will probably not share this.
BUT, God help us all when the gate slams shut!
Quote for today: "The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are now outnumbered by those that vote for a living”

"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government
take care of him--- better take a closer look at the American Indian."
Henry Ford.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Catching Pigs!
A thought to remember, Marx said, "Remove one freedom per generation and soon you will have no freedom and no one would have noticed."
There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class.
DOne day while the class was in the lab, the professor 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 you put corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free food.
"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, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again. 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 supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare entitlements, medicine, drugs, etc., while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

One should always remember two truths: There is no such thing as a free lunch, and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

If you see that all of this wonderful government "help" is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want to share this with your friends.
If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you will probably not share this.
BUT, God help us all when the gate slams shut!
Quote for today: "The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are now outnumbered by those that vote for a living”

"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government
take care of him--- better take a closer look at the American Indian."
Henry Ford.

Hear hear.

 

[flatchat(Chris)]

"The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are now outnumbered by those that vote for a living :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Randy V]

Well said David.. A very analogous perspective on what's happening here..

 

[Larry L.]

"Quote for today: "The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are now outnumbered by those that vote for a living”"

I believe there have been about a dozen people on this forum who've repeatedly expressed the same sentiment for quite some time now.

 

[Terry Oxandale]

A precept that has interesting aspects, but not realistic. That's like saying the apparent tolerance for red-light runners in the last 5 years is indicative that in the future a red light will mean nothing. If the pigs are society, and the fence builders are the government, who is supporting the government. Again, the parable is entertaining and perhaps thought provoking, but reminds be of the climate change "experts" in which a trend exists, but they don't believe it has a "future" in its accuracy.

 

[Larry L.]

If the pigs are society, and the fence builders are the government, who is supporting the government.

I think it's pretty obvious the label "pigs" only refers to/applies to certain members of society, Terry, not society as a whole. The problem we have now is the fact that segment of the population now outnumbers - or is darned close to outnumbering - those who actually pay income tax.

...and here I'll simply refer you back to what Maggie Thatcher said.

...and also to whomever 'twas who said: "A democracy...can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."

There are no rational arguments in opposition to those views.

 

[Keith]

democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."

There are no rational arguments in opposition to those views.

You would describe HM The Queen as a worse evil than Adolf Hitler?

 

[Larry L.]

I won't dignify that absurd question with a reply, Keith.

 

[Keith]

Yes it was a pretty absurd question spurred by an equally absurd statement i.e. in your opinion, a monarchy is a more onerous political system than a dictatorship, or did I read that wrong?

I am just trying to understand your thinking here...

 

[Larry L.]

Yes it was a pretty absurd question spurred by an equally absurd statement i.e. in your opinion, a monarchy is a more onerous political system than a dictatorship, or did I read that wrong?

I am just trying to understand your thinking here...

'Biggggggg difference between your present constitutional monarchy and a "monarchy"...innit. (For instance: Leopold II of Belgium and his Congo Free State...which is the sort of monarchy I assume was being referred to in the quote. Of course good ole Henry VIII wasn't exactly a saint either, was he [although nowhere near Leo in that area]...what with those 330 or so political executions that took place between 1530[?] and 1540[?] or so? And then there was something about his wives, I believe...)

 

[Keith]

I would suggest that your example of the possibility of a contemporary crisis which may result in the collapse of democracy and ending in a (God forbid :stunned Monarchy, therefore belongs in the 17th century not in the enlightened 21st.

It may also interest you to know that yesterday, Prince Charles, heir to the UK throne highlighted the "alarming rise of Islamic extremism" thus giving a name to the elephant in the room, something most British politicians have pointedly avoided doing. He went on to say that these people need to respect our own values..

He may only be a Constitutional Monarch in waiting, but his words carry weight, which has been pretty typical of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II when they have collectively spoken out about controversial matters. The politicians hate them doing it, but the practice seems to go some way into keeping the Palace of Westminster honest.

 

[Larry L.]

I would suggest that your example of the possibility of a contemporary crisis which may result in the collapse of democracy and ending in a (God forbid :stunned Monarchy, therefore belongs in the 17th century not in the enlightened 21st.

??????????! :squint:

("Enlightened 21st"! :laugh: Now, that's a good one! Look around, Keith! How "enlightened" are we really?)

It may also interest you to know that yesterday, Prince Charles, heir to the UK throne highlighted the "alarming rise of Islamic extremism" thus giving a name to the elephant in the room, something most British politicians have pointedly avoided doing.

...not to mention the current President of the U.S. and his entire admin. :evil2:

He may only be a Constitutional Monarch in waiting, but his words carry weight, which has been pretty typical of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II when they have collectively spoken out about controversial matters. The politicians hate them doing it, but the practice seems to go some way into keeping the Palace of Westminster honest.

Like I said, 'big diff between your constitutional monarchy and monarchies of the type mentioned above.