kb2iaw
Member
How to catch a wild hog (no joke)
From The Marion Star
I'm greatly concerned about the agenda of Nancy
Pelosi and
liberals/socialists in the new Congress. The
agenda contains items
that will put the security of our country at
risk; proposals that will
take away the freedom of speech for conservative
groups; bills that
would give the UN more control over the
sovereignty of our country;
and promises of more financial handouts from the
government. In other
words, the government can do a better job of
leading our lives, than
we can do ourselves.
I am reminded of the words of Ronald Reagan:
"The most terrifying
words in the English language are: I'm from the
government and I'm
here to help."
I can best explain my concern about the new
congress's agenda, by
using this analogy given to me by a former
student of mine.
Several years ago I was supervising a beginning
teacher in a city
school system. One day during our end-of-the-day
feedback conference,
the young man gave a facial grimace and began to
rub his back. I
asked him if he had strained his back in the
school lab. After a long
period of silence, he sat down at his desk and
explained that he had
immigrated to the United States because of
political problems in his
native country. The discomfort in his back was
caused by a bullet
wound he had received while fighting the
Communists who were trying to
take over his country's government. He was then
a member of the
underground nationalist force.
Then he asked me a surprising question: "Dr.
Hedges, do you know how
to catch a wild hog?" The question was
completely out of context
regarding the day's classroom and lab teaching.
I replied, "I'm not
sure what you are talking about. Tell me."
"First," he said, "you find out where the wild
hogs are roaming and
feeding, and then you put some corn out in the
field. Soon they will
come to eat the corn. You keep putting out the
free corn. More wild
hogs keep coming to eat the corn."
"So what?" I said. "That's normal for any
animal."
"Be patient. I will tell you what comes next,"
he said. "After the
hogs get used to your free corn, you put up a
length of fence along
one side of the feeding area. The hogs get used
to it. You keep
giving them the corn. Then you put up another
section of fence at
right angles to the first. You keep giving them
the corn. The hogs
get used to the second fence. Then you put up
another length of fence
at right angles to the second section. You now
have a U-shaped fenced
area. The hogs get used to that section of the
fence. You keep
giving them free corn. Then you put another
section of fence with a
gate in it, making a closed area except for the
gate. You keep giving
them corn. Now, the hogs no longer are out in
the fields, working to
find their own food. They keep coming into the
area to eat the free
corn. They get used to the fenced area with the
open gate. Then, one
day you slam shut the gate when the hogs are
inside the fenced area.
The wild hogs are caught - they are your
prisoners."
I understood then that the wild hogs were really
the people of his
native country, and that the free corn was the
enticements that the
Communists were giving to the people. "That's
correct," the young man
said. "Now, the hogs will not get anything to
eat unless you give
them food. You are in control. They depend on
you to feed them, or
they will starve. They can't get out into the
fields and forests
anymore to find their own food. They have
probably forgotten how, as
it is. They are your servants, your prisoners.
They must obey you.
Or else they starve.
"The hogs," he said, "were so accustomed to
having the free corn, that
they ignored the building of the fences that
would eventually trap
them. When the gate slammed shut, it was too
late for them to realize
what they had been blind to. The free corn was
enticing, so
effortless to obtain, but eventually the cause
of their loss of
freedom. The fence had been built; the gate had
been shut."
At this point in our conversation, the young
teacher, in a voice
shaking with emotion and with fists hitting the
desktop, loudly
exclaimed, "This is what I see happening in
America today! People are
being offered free corn by the government.
People are being blind to
the fences being built around them by the
liberals - the socialists -
and that is what frightens me! Just like it was
happening in my
homeland. The American people do not learn from
history. And history
shows that socialism/communism does not work.
Take note of Russia .
Has socialism been the best thing that ever
happened to that country?
Absolutely not! But socialism is what the
American people are being
fed, and they don't realize it. All they can
focus on is the 'free
corn.' They want more and more of the 'free'
corn. And this free
corn is being fed to us little by little, and
soon the gate will slam
shut. I am very frightened, and also amazed,
that the American people
don't see what is being fed us, and for what
purpose."
With that said, the young man sat down at his
desk and continued to
rub his painful back. And I was silent in my
chair. And afraid. For
I could visualize the supposedly "free corn"
being fed to our nation's
people, and our growing addiction to the "free
corn." And I could see
the gate being slammed shut. We, the people of
the United States of
America , because of our ignorance of history,
because of our
addiction to the supposedly "free corn," could
soon be prisoners of
liberal socialism.
Along with this fighter for freedom from
socialism/communism, I, too,
wanted to slam my fists on the desktop and cry
out in a loud voice for
all to hear, "Wake up, America! The fences are
being built! Don't
you see what is happening to us?"
In the agenda of the new Congress governed by
the liberal Democrats,
there is much "free corn" being promised the
American people. In our
greed for this "free corn," will we ignore the
incremental building of
the fences, and the inevitable shutting of the
gate?
As I ponder the building of the fences now
underway by the new
Congress, I remember the old adage, 'There is
always free cheese in a
mousetrap."
It seems the only thing we learn from history is
that we do not learn
from history.
Lowell E. Hedges is a retired associate
professor of teacher education
and a former superintendent of Elgin Local
Schools.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but
not his own facts." -
Sen. Daniel Moynihan
From The Marion Star
I'm greatly concerned about the agenda of Nancy
Pelosi and
liberals/socialists in the new Congress. The
agenda contains items
that will put the security of our country at
risk; proposals that will
take away the freedom of speech for conservative
groups; bills that
would give the UN more control over the
sovereignty of our country;
and promises of more financial handouts from the
government. In other
words, the government can do a better job of
leading our lives, than
we can do ourselves.
I am reminded of the words of Ronald Reagan:
"The most terrifying
words in the English language are: I'm from the
government and I'm
here to help."
I can best explain my concern about the new
congress's agenda, by
using this analogy given to me by a former
student of mine.
Several years ago I was supervising a beginning
teacher in a city
school system. One day during our end-of-the-day
feedback conference,
the young man gave a facial grimace and began to
rub his back. I
asked him if he had strained his back in the
school lab. After a long
period of silence, he sat down at his desk and
explained that he had
immigrated to the United States because of
political problems in his
native country. The discomfort in his back was
caused by a bullet
wound he had received while fighting the
Communists who were trying to
take over his country's government. He was then
a member of the
underground nationalist force.
Then he asked me a surprising question: "Dr.
Hedges, do you know how
to catch a wild hog?" The question was
completely out of context
regarding the day's classroom and lab teaching.
I replied, "I'm not
sure what you are talking about. Tell me."
"First," he said, "you find out where the wild
hogs are roaming and
feeding, and then you put some corn out in the
field. Soon they will
come to eat the corn. You keep putting out the
free corn. More wild
hogs keep coming to eat the corn."
"So what?" I said. "That's normal for any
animal."
"Be patient. I will tell you what comes next,"
he said. "After the
hogs get used to your free corn, you put up a
length of fence along
one side of the feeding area. The hogs get used
to it. You keep
giving them the corn. Then you put up another
section of fence at
right angles to the first. You keep giving them
the corn. The hogs
get used to the second fence. Then you put up
another length of fence
at right angles to the second section. You now
have a U-shaped fenced
area. The hogs get used to that section of the
fence. You keep
giving them free corn. Then you put another
section of fence with a
gate in it, making a closed area except for the
gate. You keep giving
them corn. Now, the hogs no longer are out in
the fields, working to
find their own food. They keep coming into the
area to eat the free
corn. They get used to the fenced area with the
open gate. Then, one
day you slam shut the gate when the hogs are
inside the fenced area.
The wild hogs are caught - they are your
prisoners."
I understood then that the wild hogs were really
the people of his
native country, and that the free corn was the
enticements that the
Communists were giving to the people. "That's
correct," the young man
said. "Now, the hogs will not get anything to
eat unless you give
them food. You are in control. They depend on
you to feed them, or
they will starve. They can't get out into the
fields and forests
anymore to find their own food. They have
probably forgotten how, as
it is. They are your servants, your prisoners.
They must obey you.
Or else they starve.
"The hogs," he said, "were so accustomed to
having the free corn, that
they ignored the building of the fences that
would eventually trap
them. When the gate slammed shut, it was too
late for them to realize
what they had been blind to. The free corn was
enticing, so
effortless to obtain, but eventually the cause
of their loss of
freedom. The fence had been built; the gate had
been shut."
At this point in our conversation, the young
teacher, in a voice
shaking with emotion and with fists hitting the
desktop, loudly
exclaimed, "This is what I see happening in
America today! People are
being offered free corn by the government.
People are being blind to
the fences being built around them by the
liberals - the socialists -
and that is what frightens me! Just like it was
happening in my
homeland. The American people do not learn from
history. And history
shows that socialism/communism does not work.
Take note of Russia .
Has socialism been the best thing that ever
happened to that country?
Absolutely not! But socialism is what the
American people are being
fed, and they don't realize it. All they can
focus on is the 'free
corn.' They want more and more of the 'free'
corn. And this free
corn is being fed to us little by little, and
soon the gate will slam
shut. I am very frightened, and also amazed,
that the American people
don't see what is being fed us, and for what
purpose."
With that said, the young man sat down at his
desk and continued to
rub his painful back. And I was silent in my
chair. And afraid. For
I could visualize the supposedly "free corn"
being fed to our nation's
people, and our growing addiction to the "free
corn." And I could see
the gate being slammed shut. We, the people of
the United States of
America , because of our ignorance of history,
because of our
addiction to the supposedly "free corn," could
soon be prisoners of
liberal socialism.
Along with this fighter for freedom from
socialism/communism, I, too,
wanted to slam my fists on the desktop and cry
out in a loud voice for
all to hear, "Wake up, America! The fences are
being built! Don't
you see what is happening to us?"
In the agenda of the new Congress governed by
the liberal Democrats,
there is much "free corn" being promised the
American people. In our
greed for this "free corn," will we ignore the
incremental building of
the fences, and the inevitable shutting of the
gate?
As I ponder the building of the fences now
underway by the new
Congress, I remember the old adage, 'There is
always free cheese in a
mousetrap."
It seems the only thing we learn from history is
that we do not learn
from history.
Lowell E. Hedges is a retired associate
professor of teacher education
and a former superintendent of Elgin Local
Schools.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but
not his own facts." -
Sen. Daniel Moynihan
