Sunday, November 1, 2009

Scarecrow Logic

True story: I once met a farmer who had the most beautiful vegetable garden. The garden was enclosed by a 3' tall wire mesh fence to keep the rabbits out, but other than that, he used very little pesticide (locally applied only) and no scarecrow. While other gardeners had all kinds of elaborate scarecrows, from straw men to pie pans hanging from wires, even some that made a loud sound, they were all still bothered by crows. The farmer in question had no such problem. I asked him how he kept the crows out of his garden and he pointed out that he had placed his bean poles and climbers on the outer edges of the garden and atop the 7' poles he had stretched a line of twine, encircled the garden, and that it was the twine that kept the crows out. Noting, with amusement, my puzzled expression, he explained, "The crows are smart enough to see the twine and think it a trap, but not smart enough to see that it isn't." This bit of logic, which I call "Scarecrow Logic", has stuck with me. I see it everywhere. I see it in the praise the Lord types who are smart enough to memorize and recite all of the dogma, but not smart enough to see the central message of love and brotherhood. I see it in the political right-wingers who are smart enough to know we should look out for our best interests, but not smart enough to see the best way to do that is a policy of inclusion. But most of all, I see it in the money grubbers who are smart enough to figure out how to get it all, but too dumb to realize that eventually "getting it all" will inevitable lead to all of us losing it all. And the environmental consumptionists who are smart enough to figure out how to harvest it all, but too dumb to see that it will all soon be gone. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but here it is none-the-less.

10 comments:

  1. Wow....if that ain't a helluva non-church-goin'-yet-still-very-inspiring-from-just-a-layperson-cyber-kinda-sermon-for-a-Sunday-afternoon, I dunno what IS.

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  2. that's one helluva a post, Mr. C! I'd be inclined to agree with it. Did you scare all the kiddies on halloween?!

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  3. You are preaching to this choir, but I do so love a good sing-song, especially if I know all the words.

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  4. Hopefully you're preaching to the converted, but I'm sure there are pockets of resistance out there somewhere.

    I always enjoy your writing but for some reason, this one's an absolute stand-out. Maybe it's the simple logic and imagery - I don't care to analyse it too much, to be honest, because enjoying it seems much more appropriate.

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  5. Right on and I love the scare-a-crow on your header.

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  6. Thanks to all for stopping by and my apologies for not responding sooner... been busy with a house full of company for a family reunion, which went off fine. Turns out I'm still only one of two liberals in the family.

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  7. Better two than none. The choir needs new words to hear the same song because the choir preaches outside the church.

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  8. Impressive post Mr. Charleston. I really enjoyed this lesson.
    Good work.

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  9. WM... I guess sometimes, two's a crowd. Thanks JenJen. Sometimes that simple farmer logic has a lot of depth.

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