The Advantages of Hard Work and Consequences of Laziness
If you’ve been around for a while (that’s my not-so-subtle way of suggesting you just might be close to 50 or older), you may recall a childhood story titled The Little Red Hen. This folktale, which many of us read in our Little Golden Books back in the day, featured a red hen who decided to prepare some much-needed food.
She found a grain of wheat and asked several other farmyard animals to help her plant it. But the pig, the cat and the frog all said “no.”
She also requested their assistance when it came time for harvesting, threshing, milling the wheat into flour and baking the flour into bread. Once again, they all declined to help.
Finally, the delicious bread was ready for eating. This time, the pig, cat and frog all eagerly volunteered to join in.
But the little red hen informed them that because they were unwilling to work, they would not share in her feast.
This story did not have a happy ending for the slothful pig, cat and frog, but it did teach a valuable lesson to kids about the benefits of hard work and the consequences of laziness.
I doubt if kids read those types of books in school anymore. I’m guessing that if there were a Common Core version of this story, the government would force the little red hen to divide her bread evenly between all the animals who refused to work.
And if there were any bread left over, she would be required by law to sell it and use the funds to pay for the other animals’ healthcare insurance.
I know that I’m preaching to the choir here regarding the value of a strong work ethic and the negative results of refusing to work, but I think it’s worth recalling this story when we think about our own preparations for the future.
If a disaster strikes and people who have not prepared know that we have stockpiled food, water and other essential items, we’re going to be hearing from them, either peacefully or violently.
So…
- Prepare for the future.
- Remind family and friends to do the same.
- Be ready to protect what you’ve stored up for the future.
Oh, and while you’re at it, get a copy of The Little Red Hen and read it to your kids or grandkids.
They’ve probably already been taught the government’s version of this story, so it’s time to set the record straight. The Little Red Hen may be an old folktale, but it offers a valuable lesson that should never go out of style.
Like what you read? There’s more where that came from. See how your stockpile stacks up… Click here!
Whites seem to forget they were the major beneficiaries of entitlement programs which started in the 1920s to 1930s. Welfare was created for them and Blacks certainly could not apply nor receive it. Social Security was also created for them specifically the white widows to ensue the suburbs.as was educations bills along with Federal jobs programs. But nooooo, whites seem to forget those things created to lift them up and push them ahead of others while Blacks people were excluded—So in my opinion FCK OFF with the lies—-AND OF COURSE THESE TRUTHS WILL BE DENIED BY THE RACISTS
White or black makes no difference when their hands are reaching into my pocket to takes what I worked hard to earn. You sound so eat up with bitterness that you assume all people on here think it’s only blacks who want handouts. That’s not so and anybody who believes that is the real racist.
At 8 yrs old, we (my brothers and me) would get 2 pairs of pants, 1 pack of socks and underwear, 5 school shirts.
If we wonted more we had to buy it with are own money.
So at 8, I had a job, and still had to do my chores at the ranch.
My children had it a little easier, but they did buy some of there own cloths.
My grand children have cloths and toys, coming out of there yang yang.
So they have no appreciation of money.
I have a great grand son on it’s why soon,
I’m not looking foreword to seeing how he gets every thing handed to him.
Losing my mother 12 years ago taught me on hard, incontrovertible fact:the old timers won’t be around forever. The best thing they can do now, and now it falls to us, is basically teach the next generation how to take our place. It sounds macabre, but it’s tru
At some point, Noah had to shut the door, (actually God did). Imagine hearing friends, relatives, and nay sayers drowning.
I was born & raised on a ranch in the Intermountain West. We had to milk the cows EVERY morning @ 5 A.M. and again @ 5 P.M. every evening. If we didn’t eat what was placed before us — we went hungry till the next meal. There was hay to harvest, ditches to dig, fences to build & keep up, cattle to herd, ETC. – ETC. – ETC. We were taught to prepare and be ready for ANY emergency. During the winter of 1948 – 49, we were snowbound for more than 2 weeks. That experience is still very special to me. What our parents had taught us about preparedness & self-reliance became, and still is, one of the best of my life. It is a subject that could become critical for all of us. The Boy Scouts motto: “Be Prepared” can in no way be over – stated!
I worry about this. Not so much for my kids and grandkids, but for the in-laws and exes that might follow them. I have been trying to provide for my own family, and I am the only one who has acquired a property capable of supporting any “survival” activities. I have space for a large garden, and also for a few animals. My children and grandchildren would make 9 of us. So what happens if my son-in-law’s family, and their families also show up? Or my son’s in-laws? Or my ex husband and his wife, who was the cause of the divorce, but now there is a kid who is my children’s half brother? Feeding my own is challenge enough! The prospect of having uninvited extras showing up gives me nightmares.I can do only so much, and I am absolutely not willing to support a small community. The hope is that this won’t happen, but I would like to hear from others what their plan is!
Cynthia, your concerns are valid. I have pondered these scenarios as well. The question is how do you control supply and demand. The answer is to control knowledge of food supply. The first thing we will lose is our gardens and other open food sources and water supplies.
The only way to combat this is to drive the idea of keeping your supply a secret to your extended family and communicate this policy to your family. The hardest thing to do is to think about extended family members suffering when you have what they need. You need to remember a phrase common during war time (and it will be a time of drastic events just like war) “loose lips sink ships”. The more people that know about your preparations the more vulnerable you are. Choose well those that know and press the point of the dangers of letting too many people knowing what you know. another thing is have a “go to” supply that maybe only you and your husband are aware of. That way if things get ugly you will survive.
Get a dehumidifier to dry fruit, veggies and meat to store long term if you haven’t already.
I know I sound like a doom day conspiracy theorist but we need to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Great suggestions Steve.
Cynthia, what Steve had said it very true. The only thing I would add to it is to start canning your own food and store it in a nice cool dark place and keep it to yourself.
Also, I would remind your family to start preparing for when the SHTF to start preparing for themselves. Have the women start canning and drying their own foods. Perhaps you can get them to share with the rest of the family their labors. For example one can dry one food and another person can dry another type of food and share in the excess. This why they will have something in common and to bond as a family. You will find that they will have stored their excess food for that rainy day. You can even do this while canning your foods too. We use to do this back in the day when it was a common occurrence, 1945-1958. I was on the tail end of this as a small boy. I always liked helping Grandma out.
It seemce of observing as they grew to adults have not learned by my words or by the lessons being taught. They have all learned by the school of hard knocks. They have had to fall hard to remember what we had told them from the very beginning. Save 10% for your old age, save 10% for emergencies, save 10% for those big items such as house, car, college etc and save 10% for the little things on your want list. That leaves 60 percent for daily living, charity, and fun.
As a father, grandparent and husband, the burden of convincing the family how critical mass effects current economy. denial is a detriment to each and every family, for denial is the essence of not preparing and refusing to acknowledge the dire situation in which the world finds itself today this includes the United States as we are by definition more in debt than any other economic power in the world. as such we have also been spoiled and consume 10 times more than any other developed nation in the world. there is an orchestrated effort by the media and the politicians of this nation to hide the true severity of our problems, this is because to acknowledge and inform the public would be tantamount to letting the cat out of the bag, hence food and banking runs, that would exponentially result in our demise. every family should begin to prepare now if you prepare now you will fare much better in the near future if you do not prepare now you will be dependent upon the generosity of friends family government and strangers. I firmly believe that the government will be hard pressed to help very much as they will have their hands full with major internal disruptions within the United States itself. Hurricane Katrina was a blip on the radar compared to what’s coming. the government failed miserably during that event, I would know I was there and I was a part of the government’s response which was patheticand resulted in the deaths of many many citizens in the Gulf Coast region. the lessons from that event have not really been learned. get prepared and be ready as best you know how or suffer a very very ugly fate.
If 11% of the population is all that is needed to provide goods and services for all what do you do with the other 89%? In this day of robotics reaching into the future it will be a real challenge. Work will have to be redefined.
I’m afraid you have fallen for the latest progressive / socialist / liberal story to support their failed ideas. Actually, we reached the point long ago where a small minority can create all of the material goods needed by the entire population. This is clear by looking at how large a percentage of the population is unemployed or underemployed. But at what price in terms of human dignity?
The key to understanding is the word “needed”. As in “needed for subsistence, for survival”. Only a tiny percentage of the population farms, yet we are all fed. But human WANTS are unlimited. So there will always be a place for anyone to add to the total wealth and happiness of the nation by applying their effort to meeting the wants and desires of others. But giving stuff away free to those who do nothing (other than vote themselves for free benefits) is no better for American society than it was for the ancient Romans. Who also had “surplus capital” (which is the economic term for more human capacity than the absolute need).
Steve said several important things (above comments): the strategy of Supply and Demand and then Ruben talked about life on a ranch and how much there is to do. First, I change it to Mother Nature’s Law of Need (demand) and Supply. Like the Red Hen, you create a “supply” based upon the real “need” of the group. There is a reasonable amount of “supplies” that you must stockpile to satisfy the “needs” of the group. Then, because there is always stuff to do around the homestead. It is wasteful – and dangerous (excess supplies invites thieves and freeloaders) so when you build and sustain your stockpiles, then there are a million things to do around the homestead to keep things good. If you are a miracle worker and you are so good that you have everything taken care of; then you can take time to “enrich” your lives. Read books, tell stories, learn a new skill and etc.. Then if you have all of that done too (another miracle) go find a beautiful spot, take in the TRUE miracle of Mother Nature or take a nap or snuggle with your loved one.
Along the lines of entitlement comes another issue that really goes against the grain , and that is why does our government support increases in give away benefits to parents who keep producing offspring that they themselves cannot support ? I say ” time to teach these dead beats a lesson . If you cant feed one on your own, we should decrease benefits for each one you produce , and start holding the parents accountable. No more free stuff , PERIOD !
When you give to charity you are giving away your money to somebody who didn’t earn it. Why is it OK to give your hard earn money to bail out Wall Street to a bunch of thieves who didn’t earn it? Why is it OK to give rich corporations tax breaks who ship jobs out of the country? So why is it OK to refuse to give a job to somebody over 50 close the door and prevent him from working and condemn him as lazy and refuse to give him a hand?
“Hallalujah, Hallalujah, GOD Almighty Hallalujah!” as the choir sings to the congregation.
My Grandfather taught me to get a dollar, save a dollar. Anything worth while is worth saving for. Somehow I failed to drill this into my kids heads. I taught them the same thing; but, the environment has taught them something different, “Get a dollar, spend a dollar because you will always can get another dollar from some where or someone.” Perhaps that is why my son moved back in with me and his step mother. My son has a job, but, one that doesn’t pay on a regular basis where I can charge him rent. So he gets free room and board. He has the use of my car until his truck is repaired and where he brings his kids over to my home for the weekend. Come the new year, I will be charging him rent. So his idea of get a dollar, spends a dollar, will come to an end. It is time for some tough love.
I have be preparing for any and all emergencies only to find that my son and wife look at my extra supplies as a treasure trove of extra goodies. When I found out that they were indulging into the stuff that I have save and stored away, I started making them both to replenish that which they had used without my permission. They have balked at replacing these stolen goods because of the prices that they have to pay. But each pay period I make sure that they replace the stock that they had used. They understand why I do what I do; it is just that they don’t have any respect for my reasons for what I do until they find themselves in an emergency situation. My wife just last week realized that when she had a flat tire in heavy traffic how safe and convenient it was to have a real regular tire other than the usual doughnut that Ford provides its cars as spare tires. She was told by the road service that changed her tire that her husband really had a head on his shoulders. Had she used the factory spare tire she would have had another flat before reaching home. She was over 50 miles away from home (LA traffic). Now she is pleased as punch for having a thoughtful husband. My wife sees what I am doing; but, she just hasn’t connect the dots just yet.
I realize it will take time to teach someone to save a dollar; but, it is going to take a major disaster for these people to reach bottom before they will fully embrace this concept. I have often told them about the Ant and the Grasshopper. Now I am trying to teach my grandchildren about the Ant and the Grasshopper. Perhaps I will have better luck with them.
They have stolen from you. This is way beyond charity. Do not allow people into your home, particularly to live there, who steal or will not accept your rules. Kick them out.