Fables That Fix Lives: Ancient Code for Modern Problems

  An old crow in the south had a son old enough to learn how to cry. “My voice is really ugly and nobody likes me in this world,” thought the old crow. “I can’t change my voice, but I’ll have my son change his.” One day she took her son to the magpie and said to him, “My son wants to be your student so that he can learn how to cry beautifully. If in the future my son’s voice becomes beautiful and everyone in this world likes him, I shall be very grateful and repay you with a handsome reward.” The magpie accepted the young crow and taught him how to cry like a magpie, but no matter how hard the crow tried, he could never do it right. This upset the magpie. He started to peck at and beat the crow, who still couldn’t change his ugly voice. Looking at him hopelessly, the magpie said to the crow, “I can never make you change your voice.” Then he asked him to go back. When the crow got home, he started to imitate his moth­er’s voice and before long, he learned how to cry like a c...

  A Fowler in the East once went to a wood, scattered some grain on the ground, spread a net over it with some lime in it, and was watching from a distance to see what luck would attend his efforts. A great many birds assembled on the trees around the net, and said, "What fine corn that is! We can seldom hope to get anything like it." An owl that was close by said, "How nice that white thing in the net is!" "What is it?" said the birds. "Why, it is our best friend in the world; it is lime. When it holds us in its embrace, we can never hope to get away." The birds left the place at once. Said the fowler, "A clever bird knows the lime!" #CorporateExploitation #Neocolonialism #GlobalEconomy #ForeignInvestment #EconomicTraps #ThirdWorldStruggles #BusinessEthics #SustainableDevelopment #BewareTheBait # ModernSlavery

Once upon a time, four owls went out, each to a part of the world, to see how people liked things, ill and false, and came back to tell of what they had seen. To owl that went north said, "I saw by a stream, the fish make mouths at the birds. They further said, 'Look at our fins and their wings, how queer they are!" The owl that went south said, "I saw on a hill a fly of fair hues go by the door of hive; the bees said, "Look, he has come to beg of us for some food.' The fly said to a friend of his, 'These rogues, I mean the bees, stole the sweets from the blooms when the air was dry, so now I have naught to eat when it is cold." The owl that went east said, "I saw in a wood a pard go out from his den. The wolf went with him a few yards, came back, and said to a friend of his, 'The pard is a knave, yet I cling to him, for he is strong." The owl that went west said, "I saw a bear pass by a lion's den. A fox close by said the bea...

  Colors blind the eye. Sounds deafen the ear. Flavors numb the taste. Thoughts weaken the mind. Desire withers the heart. The Master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is open as the sky. [Lao Tzu]