...it is the grass that gets trampled, says an African proverb. This reminds me of the lesson we had back in school English: Burning the candle at both ends. It talks of quotes as being only partly true. There are examples such as birds of a feather flock together. Then, the author mentions the bird (I forget) that doesn't even fly with its own parent.
Coming back to the subject, I kind of believe a little different from the proverb. Its the middle-class who suffer more compared to the other classes (when things change around). For the rich, there isn't a matter; as for the poor, they always suffer! So whenever there's a change in economy or if two political elephants screw each other up, its the middle-class who take a hit the most. Its due to what I call the middle-class attitude: whatever is earned is spent. If a middle-class person gets a raise, she usually plans how to spend it even before getting the cash at hand! That leads us to a very sensible quote that most of the middle-class ignore: penny saved is penny earned, which is why things are the way they are.
So its not the grass that suffers, its the branches of the trees uprooted that suffer when two elephants fight.
1 comment:
1) Well said. Proverbs are generalisations and generalisations are always imperfect. Sometimes they are partly correct, but fully wrong! But look at the spirit behind generalisations. Keen observation is needed to generalise. Rule of thumb is needed to wade through the maze of this world. Just because of a particular variety of a bird, can you, or should you, ignore the general rule? Exceptions make the rule.
2) As an economist I know the middle-class mentality. Poor don't follow. Rich have none to follow. It is middle-class which stirs. The one who runs will only fall. It is the case of a baby elephant trying to behave like a grown-up one. There is no fight between elephants.
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