Crabs In A Bucket : The Drag-'em-Down Democrat Mentality
68Okay, so I grew up landlocked and ignorant about crabs and Democrats. Turns out that if you go crabbing and catch youself a bucketful of crabs (as opposed, obviously, to a case of the crabs), not one of those live crabs will ever escape the bucket. Why? Because if one smart, ambitious, energetic, freedom loving crab does start to climb out over the rim, the other crabs will grab hold and yank him the shell back down in with the rest of them.
Yikes.
If you're crab in a bucket, it must really suck to be you.
The phonomenon is so well known that the term crab mentality has arisen to describe any individual who attempts to prevent another person from getting ahead in life. It's part and parcel with the old (and often all too true) saying:
"I want my friends to get ahead...just not too far ahead!"
As it happens, I believe in reincarnation, believe it to be an absolute fact. Perhaps all those dyed-in-the-wool Democrats have actually lived as crabs at some time in the past, the way they freak out at the mere mention of someone escaping the bucket. You know, being rich and all that.
As Crab in Chief Obama puts it:
"I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."
(To Joe the Plumber): "We want to spread your wealth."
(Re extending the Bush tax cuts): "I will not do that again!"
This is not good. Our national symbol is the magnificent bald eagle...yet our highest office is currently occupied by an arthropod, a relative just one class away from spiders and scorpions.
This is good: Neither crabs nor lobsters are great fans of boiling water, while the Tea Party has the expertise to apply the heat under any political cookpot you care to imagine.
Hmmm.....
Well. Since it's settled that President Obama is definitely a CIO (Crab In Office), the question then becomes: What sort of crab is presently occupying the Oval Office with his crabby shell and his crabby claws? Certainly, despite his Crustacean In Chief position, he's no Alaskan king crab. He's not even a crab apple, a truth made clear by his continual attempt to compare apples with oranges or even NCAA basketballs. Possibly a coconut crab; some of those are pretty impressive, and they do have them in Hawaii.
But no. I'm thinking maybe...a Kenyan mangrove crab? There are many different species, including (just as a for-instance) the not-as-big-as-he-thinks-he-is metopograpsus oceanicus discovered by Jacquinot in 1852. Heck, the metopograpsus oceanicus is probably even a Democrat.
Yeah. Let's go with that.
Remember in November 2012.
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Yeah, I'm thinking Obama simply wants to be the top crab in the bucket, or maybe the only one with a bucket-pass. But from what I hear, he's not made many buckets with a lefthand hook shot....
Okay, gettin' silly on that last part; time to start another Hub....
Man, I'll tell you a banged out a 4 star rating for you one this one.
Our new national emblem surely could become the crab! Think about the possibilities? The motto could be, "A pincher in every pot."
Or "In Crabs We Trust" could be imprinted on our currency!
My mind is swirling with the mindlessness of the mentality!
The Frog
Ghost: Gotta love that sarcasm that is so thick you would need a chain saw to cut. OUTSTANDING, and by the way, where do you come up with this stuff ? You truly are the "STUD CRAB" IN the pot my friend....You are the " Ruler of the Roost ", oh wait a minute, that is fowl ! How about " Big Dog on the Porch "?
Well done, thumbs up and all the other checks, so as to off set the liberal pukes that don't like crab stories over in the Gay Bay. You do realize their are boat loads of crabs around Princess Nancy's house right ?
It's nature to want to get ahead. It's why the current system exists, not that I agree with all it's intricacies. You can't make people not want to get rich, or richer. Hell you can't even stop them if they want to, it won't happen. Prohibiting things, doesn't exactly work. Tell someone to do something and they will go right ahead and do the opposite. I do think more can be done for the poor, but there are a lot poorer people outside of this country than in it.
I did not know about the crab mentality until now, but it fits pretty well with political Democrats. I say this carefully, because I know plenty of well meaning Democrats who see themselves as people who help bring people out of the bucket.
Honestly, this can be applied to the workplace - a more capitalist environment - to describe people like my managers who, when they see someone who shines (works hard, does his job right), they will immediately sabotage that person and "pull him back into the bucket."
Thanks for this thought, it puts things in perspective!
I had no idea that crabs hold back other crabs. They must be the first socialists on the planet.
Metopograpsus oceanicus says it all! That was brilliant!
Frog: Dang, I forgot to throw in SpongeBob and the crabby patties...love the "pincher in ever pot idea", not too sure about "In Crabs We Trust". Think my response to that would be, "The SHELL we do!"
Ken: Not sure where all the ideas come from, but the more I write, the easier it gets. Sort of like Democrats, the more they tax, the easier THAT seems for them to consider as the Right Way of Life or Debt....
Coinspire: I know that's true in my case. The Army pressured me so much to have payroll deductions purchase U.S. Savings Bonds that I almost refused to do it--after having PLANNED to buy 'em before I was even drafted!
Alexander: Yes, the crab mentality can be seen operating in any sizeable group of people. I was first informed of this by a trainer in a multilevel marketing company around 1987-88.
Pop: Sure seems a likely possibility.
David: That species did really speak to me, you might say...LOL!
I don't think democrats want to hold people back, we just wanna help the ones up from the bottom of the bucket, while strengthening the ones in the middle too.... If we keep going the way we are, we will be more like a feudal state...The top 5% incomes have skyrocketed since the 50's while the median income has remained about the same...They don't need any tax cuts. Oh, and I have seen a crab get out of a bucket. That's for sure.
I'm glad to hear you've seen a crab make it out; gives me hope for the rest of us.
It's noteworthy, though, that you're looking to merely redistribute the crabs while keeping them all in the bucket. I'd rather distract the crabber, knock the bucket over on its side, and yell,
"Run for your lives! That guy's got a pot of boiling water and a batch of melted butter all set to go!"
But we're certainly never going to agree on what makes "tax sense"--I, for example, being a rabid supporter of eliminating the IRS entirely and going to the Fair Tax system.
In case you're not familiar with that system in all its details, the videos here explains it well:
ha, ha...I guess that I did forget to mention that! I love the sound of "fair tax"...whether it's true or not would be debatable. I just know one thing, I want to pay less taxes. But when I go to the grocery and have to decide whether to go with a bag of "circle o's* instead of the box of Cheerios to save a buck and someone else is at the Donzi dealer deciding to add the gold package and have it delivered to an off shore island, I feel that they could cover more of the tax burden.
You actually inspired the Hub I wrote immediately after posting that link yesterday, opening up a Fair Tax discussion page.
Under that plan, YES, when you go to the store for that cereal, you'll pay a LOT less in taxes and the "Donzi" purchaser will pay a lot MORE--because your income was NEVER taxed and a box of Cheerios x 23% comes out much cheaper than the gold package. Especially since the gold pack would be charged the $500,000 x 23% AT POINT OF SALE, after which nobody cares if it gets delivered to an off shore island or to the middle of a volcano.
Cool, huh.
very well written, i liked it alot
Thanks, Rick.
I see your trademark sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, humor in this. Incredible analogies.
Sarcasm? Me?
Thanks, Becky.
WillStarr Level 8 Commenter 13 months ago
Great analogy, and spot on accurate!
In the crab world, no one gets ahead. In Obama-world, no one gets ahead either…except for elitists like Obama, who must of course, rule over the Bible and gun clinging, bucket-people.