The Ant and the Grasshopper

by Aesop in 600 BC:

A grasshopper (in the original, a cicada) that has spent the summer singing and dancing while the ant worked to store up food for winter. When winter arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and begs the ant for food. However, the ant rebukes its idleness and tells it to dance the winter away now.

by a person in the Post-scarcity era:

A grasshopper that has spent the summer singing and dancing while the ant worked to store up food for winter. When winter arrives, the ant finds itself dying of mental depression with high blood pressure, high blood glucose, and high cholesterol. The ant especially resents the fact that the grasshopper is still singing and dancing during the winter and begs for a reason. However, no one answers to the ant.

word I learned:

• improvidence: failure to plan for the future, characterized by lack of foresight, recklessness, or wasteful spending of resources.