Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Mules are People Too

There’s an old story about an evil man who wanted to get rid of his old mule. “All it does is bray all the time.”

He took the mule far away from his property and dropped it off only to have the animal find its way back home. He stopped feeding the mule but somehow it found enough food on its own to survive. Finally the evil man threw the mule down a deep dried up well but the mule continued to bray and bray. And the sound was even more annoying since it was now accompanied by an echo.


The man decided the only way to finish the job was to bury the mule and be done with the problem. So he loaded his truck with dirt from all over his farm and with shovel in hand he began to fill the hole.


When the first bit of dirt fell onto the mule it shook itself clean and stepped to the side. Then it stepped back with the second fall of dirt. Each time the man shoveled more dirt onto the mule it shook itself clean and stepped to the side. Soon there was enough newly shoveled dirt to all but fill the hole and the mule merely stepped out and walked away, braying.


The tale ends there but an alternate PETA ending has the evil man getting so upset that he has a heart attack and dies while the mule goes to Hollywood where it does a sequel to ‘Francis Goes to West Point’ and earns millions.


The story is a parable to the struggles we are facing today. The hole is our current economic meltdown and the mule is America. We have dug ourselves a deep hole with shovels full of corporate greed and failed economic policies taking the ground from under our feet. The nay-sayers are complaining that President Obama is going to bury us in debt for years to come by pouring vast amounts of money into the pit. But our country is resilient and little by little we will use the money to climb out of our hole and free ourselves once again.


Will the stimulus package work? Only time, commitment and lots of money will tell. But we have one thing going for us; Americans can be as stubborn as mules.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyed this. I think it's one for Newsday.

Reschzoo said...

I thought about Newsday but I think they would not wish to print me so soon after the last one. Glad you liked it though.