Everybody knows the story of the three little pigs. They are sent out by their mother to live on their own and become responsible pig citizens. The first pig makes his house out of straw -- quick, cheap, and easy -- then proceeds to have fun, at least until the wolf huffs and puffs and blows it all in (or down, whatever). (I'm dispensing with all discussions of hairs on chinny chin chins too, pace purists). The second pig (and it is unclear whether this pig first sees what happens with the first pig or is just a bit more cautious) builds his house with sticks, which would seem to offer more wolf-whistle resistance, but alas no. The third pig builds his house out of bricks, which not only withstands the wolf, but offers refuge to his risk-taking brothers.
The real idiot of this story is of course the second pig. The first pig gets something: playtime and the manifest support of his two brothers when he's in need. The third pig gets something too: the twin satisfaction of being prepared and of helping his brothers in need. But the second pig gets nothing: he takes no playtime, he gets no security. He can't even help out the first pig for very long.
The lesson: people who choose half-measures not only get nothing, they also lose the opportunity to get something. I'm a third pig who appreciates first pigs. But second pigs: ugh. Losers every one.
3 comments:
Is existentialism a first pig philosophy?
If my ideal is to "live for the moment," but conflicting senses of duty brought on by double consciousness of relationships lead me to make some concessions to attempts at stronger building, am I a second pig?
Did not the brick house builder Arthur Dent learn (on about page 2 no less) that there are no safe houses, there are no ultimate bricks in this universe? There are only degrees of straw.
Does Camus's "the absurd man" have anything in common with the second pig? "What in fact is the absurd man? He who, without negating it, does nothing for the eternal."
Okay, but who is worse, the first pig or the third? Who would you rather be?
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