Do you remember the ant and grasshopper story? The ant works the whole summer collecting food while the grasshopper plays guitar. In the end, we are told that the ant survives the harsh winter and the grasshopper dies of starvation. We all end up wishing to become ants instead of grasshoppers. Who would want to die starving? But no one told us: Even the ants die because of burnout.
The story glorifies the ant’s labor while reprimanding the grasshopper’s creative free-spiritedness. The story is a perfect example of cultural indoctrination. It’s these stories that seep into the subconscious of the masses and create our lifelong beliefs, which we die fighting. Are you curious to unearth such beliefs where slogging hard is injected in your veins as the only way? Beliefs like ‘life is all about blood, sweat and tears’ or ‘there’s nothing called free lunches in life’ or ‘no pain no gain’ etc.
We all are conditioned to believe that we all have to work hard in our life to add meaning to it. It’s our hard work that will add value to our existence. No one told us, we need nothing more or less; life itself is beautiful and meaningful. We weren’t told, living means to feel alive. Instead, we were always directed to follow rules, gather degrees, work, earn, and save for the future. Our whole life path had been carved from birth to death without our permission. Read the first article of WOP to gain perspective. Still confused?
Well, let us transmute the ant & grasshopper story to our current education system. As we are aware, the formal education system was created to produce workers (ants) for the massive workforce requirement post-industrial revolution. Thus, our schools reward students who excel in the standardized curriculum prepared to create workers, which basically means, ants.
Every child who isn’t able to excel or sustain the mainstream education system is side-lined, mocked, and devalued, just like the grasshopper. Many such students graduate school with low self-esteem and are barely able to sustain life well, without ever identifying the inherent talents they were born with.
As for the students who scored high scholastically, who comprise the largest working class, the state isn’t rosy for them either. Maybe, they are better off as per social standards, thus enjoying social status more than often. They have been curated to become good survivors. However, a major chunk of their lives is taken up by work.
And what’s the result? Today, we are witnessing a sharp increase in stress levels in the young generation. Insomnia, anxiety, and hypertension are emerging as the new norm among young people. Recent WHO report depicts a rise in heart attack cases among people under forty years of age! Burnout is real in this era of cutthroat competition. The ants worry a lot!
The education system is designed to fit everyone in the same mold. The inherent curiosity and creativity of the children are murdered in the process by focusing on scholastic domains to fulfill the market demands. After all, the job of education is to get a job.
Using the ant & grasshopper story as the base we can infer that the job of education is to turn everyone into ants. And in doing so it successfully assassinates the grasshoppers among us. The moment a student enters school, s/he starts running on the hamster’s wheel. By the time s/he graduates, s/he has been domesticated.
How do I know? Well, I have been both an ant and a grasshopper. And I have failed and succeeded in pretty much both. I failed to excel the formal education until I discovered subjects that cohered with my core and post that I metamorphosed into an excellent student. That’s the ant in me. But, the grasshopper very much lives. Despite the grunt, I always pursued hobbies and followed life’s path in an unscripted way. Believe me, it is by following the grasshopper in me, through these untrodden pathways that have made me feel alive and vibrant, not the academic success I ever achieved.
Of course, I understand the value of discipline and hard work. At the same time, I strongly believe in being the grasshopper in life, exploring new shores, and creatively fulfilling one’s soul’s desires. Eventually, becoming more than a survivor. Also, once you do what you love, work no more looks like work. And automatically discipline enters your life.
I am aware that, anyway, I will die. Thus, I got to choose: I would like to die being an ant, pursuing the socially crafted work for me, or if I would like to die as a grasshopper, thus honing my inherent talents and skills, inventing something new creatively?
To every person reading this piece, my call to action will be: Becoming a grasshopper is equally important as being an ant. Thus, learn to be an ant while ensuring the grasshopper is alive in your heart. Try everything! Don’t let the grasshopper in you die of starvation. Feed it by pursuing a hobby—slow and steady at times, but keep it alive. Listen to songs; travel; dance; do random things; be funny and stupid.
Live a more meaningful life on your own terms. And you never know, one day, the grasshopper decides to come out and take the world by storm with its creative bohemian ways. Believe me, you will become a blessing to those around you. As you spread more love, joy, and positivity. By doing so, you will overrule the flaw in the ant and grasshopper story. It’s time to recreate the ant & grasshopper story by finding our own balance in it.
What if we rewrote the ant & grasshopper story? Read here
| This is the second blog in the five-article series written during Educators Fellowship, Write of Passage Cohort 10, April-May 2023. Write of Passage David Perell Dan Sleeman Will Mannon Read Unlacing the Cultural Labels – Article III Read Unlacing the Cultural Labels – Article I |
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