2012-04-30
Original: 2012-04-30 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (caption): THE GRASSHOPPER SPENT ALL SUMMER FIDDLING AND PLAYING.
[A green grasshopper happily plays a fiddle, musical notes drifting away.]
Panel 2 (caption): THE ANTS WORKED HARD ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY.
[Red ants haul large pale loads up a hill.]
Panel 3 (caption): THE CICADA INVESTED SOME CAPITAL IN A STEEL MILL.
[A cicada in a suit and tie holds up a paper labeled DEED in front of a steel mill.]
Paper: DEED
Panel 4 (caption): IN THE WINTER, THE ANTS HAD ENOUGH TO EAT.
[Red ants sit among huge piles of stored food.]
Panel 5 (caption): THE CICADA SPENT HIS SURPLUS EARNINGS PAYING A BEETLE FOR FOOD AND PAYING THE GRASSHOPPER TO COMPOSE MUSIC. THEIR DIVISION OF LABOR INCREASED TOTAL WEALTH 64%.
[The grasshopper sits contentedly on cushions with his fiddle and a piano nearby, while the cicada looks on.]
Panel 6:
Red-haired person: THAT'S NOT HOW THE STORY GOES!
Woman holding a book: YEAH, WELL, HAVE FUN ACTING LIKE THE ANTS IN A MODERN ECONOMY.
Votey:
[A drawing of a thick book.]
Book cover: DAVID RICARDO'S BOOK OF ECONOMICALLY ACCURATE FABLES
[A green grasshopper happily plays a fiddle, musical notes drifting away.]
Panel 2 (caption): THE ANTS WORKED HARD ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY.
[Red ants haul large pale loads up a hill.]
Panel 3 (caption): THE CICADA INVESTED SOME CAPITAL IN A STEEL MILL.
[A cicada in a suit and tie holds up a paper labeled DEED in front of a steel mill.]
Paper: DEED
Panel 4 (caption): IN THE WINTER, THE ANTS HAD ENOUGH TO EAT.
[Red ants sit among huge piles of stored food.]
Panel 5 (caption): THE CICADA SPENT HIS SURPLUS EARNINGS PAYING A BEETLE FOR FOOD AND PAYING THE GRASSHOPPER TO COMPOSE MUSIC. THEIR DIVISION OF LABOR INCREASED TOTAL WEALTH 64%.
[The grasshopper sits contentedly on cushions with his fiddle and a piano nearby, while the cicada looks on.]
Panel 6:
Red-haired person: THAT'S NOT HOW THE STORY GOES!
Woman holding a book: YEAH, WELL, HAVE FUN ACTING LIKE THE ANTS IN A MODERN ECONOMY.
Votey:
[A drawing of a thick book.]
Book cover: DAVID RICARDO'S BOOK OF ECONOMICALLY ACCURATE FABLES
Alt text
A six-panel comic retelling the fable of the grasshopper and the ants with an economics twist. Captioned panels: 'The grasshopper spent all summer fiddling and playing' (a green grasshopper plays a fiddle); 'The ants worked hard all the live long day' (red ants haul loads up a hill); 'The cicada invested some capital in a steel mill' (a cicada in a suit holds a paper marked DEED before a mill); 'In the winter, the ants had enough to eat' (ants amid piles of stored food); 'The cicada spent his surplus earnings paying a beetle for food and paying the grasshopper to compose music. Their division of labor increased total wealth 64%' (the grasshopper lounges contentedly with his instruments). Final panel: an upset red-haired person says 'That's not how the story goes!' and a woman holding a book replies 'Yeah, well, have fun acting like the ants in a modern economy.' Votey: a drawing of a thick book titled 'David Ricardo's Book of Economically Accurate Fables,' the joke being that comparative advantage and trade beat brute labor.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.