It was only in recent years that I learned of two different interpretations for Aesop’s fable The Ant and the Grasshopper. In the tale, the ant toils preparing for winter while the grasshopper spends his time making music. When winter comes and the grasshopper has no provisions, he goes to the ant for help. The ant turns his back and the grasshopper starves. I was told this tale as a child, my takeaway being that you needed to prepare for what was to come, that having fun was great but not at the risk of your future. That was a life lesson the people of Aesop’s time would have understood more clearly than I ever could. Few had a safety net that wasn’t self-created or self-sustained.

The interpretation I was exposed to recently turned the table on this lesson. When the grasshopper goes to the ant, the ant sees his suffering and helps him out. This new lesson is one of generosity and forgiveness, which is also important, but not what Aesop had in mind.

I’m struck now with the notion that we are the grasshopper. We’ve squandered such wealth — such astounding levels of resources — and now the metaphorical winter has arrived. Where is the ant?

If your answer is the federal government, or perhaps the Federal Reserve and their digital printing press, I think you should look closer. They seem pretty grasshopper-like to me, with a lot of sycophant reasoning to keep us believing in them. They are not the ant. There is no ant in our tale.

The framing we are using should not be “lives today” versus “jobs today.” It should not be a balance between models of public health and models of economic health. These are projections we should never be forced to turn to, choices we never want to be forced into making.

The framing needs to be: Now that we recognize we are the grasshopper of Aesop’s tale, what steps do we take to become the ant?

Together, in our communities, we need to start building Strong Towns.

Top image of the FDR Memorial credit via Sonder Quest.