Greed Overreaches itself

Some of our most enduring, fundamental lessons are learned through stories.  They have been used for centuries to teach children, congregations, and even spur entire countries to act.  Some of the simplest, yet prolific, stories to date are those told through the fables of Aesop.  As children we learned about the virtues and pitfalls of humanity; these simple stories resonate with us and teach us simple lessons.  For my final analysis, I have chosen Aesop's tale of The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs. Through this analysis I will examine the lessons embedded in this short story, the mode in which these lessons are taught, and extrapolate on the rhetoric presented in the story.  I hope to find a deeper meaning that speaks clearly through the story.

The exact origin of Aesop’s fables may be nothing better than a guess.  Over the years the stories must have been told a million times; each time from a slightly different perspective and each time with a potential different motive.  The most basic context for the story would be one of a simpler time: when you lived on what you could grow yourself or barter with those around you.  A time not so long ago that riches, the opportunity of lavishness and a privileged life, did not exist.  One of the reason, or maybe consequences, of the story lasting centuries is it can be applied in many contexts.  The context in this story is not what makes the story valuable or useful.  It does not matter if the goose is the mans only thing of value to feed his family or if the goose is one of many, in a wealthy mans flock.  The story is worth considering because the principles in the story will relate to you.  The story teaches about greed, patience, and prudence.

The story takes places in the country.  By contrast to the ending of the story the beginning of the story is set in humble circumstances.  Regardless of the man’s initial standing, adding the amount of a golden egg to his estate seems to have an impact. 

The characters are the goose and the countryman.   The countryman provides the moral of the story by changing his expectation, wants and needs as the story progresses.   The goose says little but provides the catalyst for the change.  The events are simple, yet whimsical. The goose lays a golden egg a day and each day the country man gathers the eggs and sells them.  As the man does this he accumulates wealth.  This causes the man to became greedy and require more wealth.  Until, by design the goose meets his maker.  This not only yields the countryman no reward, but dispatches his opportunity to obtain more wealth.   The demographics’ may change, but the primary audience is those who receive a sudden and drastic increase in treasure (note-the treasure does not have to be monetary in value). 

The story has three messages. Greed is bad, the need for patience and perseverance, and that prudence is a virtue.

The story warns against greed and the yearning for more than is possessed or earned.  -In the story the man receives a great blessing of wealth, yet he becomes so gluttonous for more he kills the source of his blessings.  This teaches the audience that when given a free lunch, they should be thankful, not dependant.  By becoming accustomed to more we become dependent.  Until the more that we received is no longer enough.

It shows patience as a virtue.  Had the man continued each day to feed and water the goose, the goose may have continued to lay golden eggs each day as long as it lived.  The man would have to wait a short time between each lay, but over time would receive a much larger reward.  Similar to any goals we have, if we are willing to put in the time, energy and patience any goal is achievable.  The greater the patience we have the more likely we are to see a big result and more importantly to be content with our current situation.

And finally the story reminds us that mild mannered prudence will guide us to wise decisions.  The story describes the hastiness of the man to receive a large reward now, haste is what drove the man to kill his source of riches.  In his zeal and impatience he made a grave mistake that turned no reward.

The unfortunate ending to this story would define it as a tragedy.  The inability of the countryman to overcome is greed, haste and impatience made him incapable of continuing his success.  

 In reading and understanding this, as with many of Aesops fables, we learn the benefits of developing our own character.  More importantly the story points out the damage we can do to ourselves by letting these values erode and submitting to our natural tendencies.  These stories would be told not only to build one ’s self, but with the understanding the communities are built one person at a time.  As one member learns the pit falls of greed and the virtues of patience and prudence, the collective values of the community rise and the community as a whole is protected against the infectious tendencies of man.

 

One day a countryman going to the nest of his goose found there an egg all yellow and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been played on him. But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the same thing occured, and he grew rich by selling his eggs. As he grew rich he grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find nothing. Greed often overreaches itself.

This is a song that when I first heard I got hooked on.  It is silly, simply, and maybe not the deepest, best, narrative artifact, but there is a clear story.  Through that simplicity, it struck a fun, strange chord in me. It has been fun to analysis this and defines the song a little better in my mind.  This has helped me understand why it struck me at that time in my life. 

This narrative is set at the beginning of a journey.  The circumstances are not clearly defined.  The type of journey is not specifically important to the narrative.  The video implies an actual journey, though to me the lyrics speak of a metaphorical journey.  Regardless of the type, the fact that is it a journey makes the narrator a vagabond. This is important to the story.  The narrator lack of "home" makes him susceptible to change, advice and growth.  The Narrator is also the main character of the story.  As the story progresses, we meet two other men.   The first of these men is 2 feet tall. While the story it's self does not specify a specific temporal order or relationship, it is interpreted to have happened in the order presented.  The man is happy, self actualized and comfortable with whom he is, despite what the world may say about his statue.  As our narrator continues on his journey he meets a man on the opposite side of the spectrum in every way.  The man is 12 feet tall, seems to be of great esteem among the world and yet has dreaded the same words of wisdom the prior man had treasured and lived by.   

In the end of the song the narrator uses the same words of wisdom to reassure himself that who he is good enough. This would be the causal effect of the story, seeing the example of the two men help him be who he wants to be.  Not by becoming someone in the sight of the world, or mind of others, but by being content with himself as a roughly 6 foot tall individual. 

The audience would be those who may not feel good about themselves, or feel they have to meet some culturally driven standard.   With that in mind the theme is one of self actualization.  The purpose of the story would be to impart the advice to the audience. 

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012

Ripple
This song by the Grateful Dead is FULL of Metaphors and I will not attempt to analyze all of them for the purpose of this assignment.  Jerry Garcia never gave any type of explanation of this song.  On occasion he would even refuse to play it because he felt it was sacred and should be played in churches not at concerts.

One metaphor that I feel I may be able to pull out of this song is the title reference.  The Ripple on still water.  For me, much of the reference of this song refers to a loved one that has passed on to the other side.  The ripple on still water is the difference, or effect that person had on the hearts of those left here.  The still waters are in the corners of a morning heart.  There is no turmoil, or anger; it just is what it is.  The wind would be turmoil or frustration, a pebble would represent anger or a resentment towards the conditions surrounding a death.  But the waters are still, a calm reassurance that what is done is done, there is no going back, no way to fix what has happened only a calm acceptance of a sad situation.  YET, there are ripples,  a soft, calming image.  Ripples showing the life made an influence, and the passing of that life cannot be ignored.  I think of even soft ripples on water, they will drastically change the refection in the water, showing things you may have never seen other wise and may never see again. 

In this metaphor, the water, or more specifically, the ripples are the vehicle.  The tenor, at least in my mind, is the unseen, yet never forgot influence of a loved one.

There are parts of this song that confuse, yet sooth me.  Offering a strange, yet comforting feeling. The last verse is a great example of this.


You who choose, to lead must follow
But if you fall you fall alone,
If you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home.

  It seems to offer little or no comfort about what is next.  Starting out by saying, you have no control, you cannot chose when or how. Even if you do get to choose to go, once there you can only follow.  Then it says you will have no one to follow, no one there to guide your way or help you through what ever darkness lies ahead. In the third line it seems to say, no matter what you choose you will be left to figure it out on your own.  Stay or go, you will not be lead home.  But then in the forth line, in a tone and way only Jerry could, he says, I wish I could help you, and THAT is enough to give you strength to take the chance and see what lies ahead. 

 
For my Ideological Artifact I have chosen America First Credit Union's logo.

The logo it's self conveys volumes.  For some back ground, the credit union was established to service the federal employees stationed and working at Hill Airbase.  It's original audience was men and women in the service of their country.  Men and women that may say they put America first in their own life.  The symbol of freedom from tyranny and oppression, the eagle with its wings spread wide open crowns the logo.  As a financial institution this represents financial freedom from the fees, profit driven banks.
These symbols represent a much deeper more complex ideology.

Before I continue, I will say for my class mates benefit that there are some great advantages to Banks.  For some people they are the best option and provide a more appropriate set of services and products better designed for a consumer.  I will also say, the ideology of banks, a capitalistic system, is what our nation is founded on and I believe the best system for the majority of goods and services.  You won't hear any of that is an America First Credit Union Commercial.

The credit union ideology is based on a co-op system.  Simply put all involved in the credit union have a vested interest in the success and advancement of the entire financial institution.  As a "member" of the credit union you receive free or reduced rate services like checking, cashiers checks, low interest lines of credit. In addition, profits earned over and above the cost of running the credit union are split evenly among all members based the the level of investment, in the form of dividends.  The credit union's strategical plans are designed by a group of elected volunteers.  This board of directors set the course of the credit union and develop the business strategies of the company.  As volunteers you can rest assured they have the stability and interest of the members at heart.  They do not take unwarranted risks for the hope of big rewards for themselves.  The financial health of each of its members is the number one goal. 
As I searched for the correct "ism" to define to the credit union ideology I was reminded of the Bedford Falls savings and loan from "It's A wonderful Life".  The motto of the credit union is people helping people.  I would choose to describe the Credit Union as Democratic Socialism.

Artifact #1 Newsies

Artifact #1
Video 1
Video 2 

For my Neo-Aristotelian article I have chosen this speech given by Jack Kelly (with the help of Davey) in the Disney movie the Newsies. This speech is the beginnings of a revolution among a group of young working news boys.  This speech and the circumstances around it inspire these boys to organize and fight back against the proverbial man. 
The Rhetor - Jack is seen as somewhat of a leader among the news boys, many respect him and look up to him. Jack happily assumes the role of protector arguably because it best serves his interest and his ability to lead the group pays dividends for himself. 
The Situation - The context of this speech begins with a hike in the cost of the papers to the news boys.  This causes the anger, outrage, frustration, and panic.  The audience feels abused, and helpless.  This sets the stage perfectly for someone to come in and offer a solution. 

Canons
The invention of the speech is spontaneous and based on the immediate emotions of the group.  Jack (Davey) draws on a similar, relevant occurrences (the trolley workers strike) to frame his ideas.  The invention of the speech and ideas presented our impromptu. 
The Organization of the speech is created to harness the train of thought and emotions of the audience.  It is created to direct the emotions of the boys to an organized, action based group. 
The language used to create the rhetoric is very interesting to me in this artifact.  Jack takes Davey's ideas and using more bold language puts those ideas across to the audience.  Jack takes complicated ideas and says clearly to the boys the way they should act.  Jacks digest the ideas and presents it simply to the boys by using simple, excited, and appropriate language.

This speech and Jack's rhetoric continues for much of this movie.