March of Microanalysis Day 15
Microfiction Entry Day 15:
“Sheep should have known,” said the shepherd to the butcher. “I have to eat, too.”
Again with the Dylanesque profession pairing! I actually wrote this, or something very similar, back during the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street movement. It’s a capitalist fable. Sorta.
One ought not kill those one is charged with protecting. That’s Shepherding 101. But recent events like the crash of 2008 and the subprime lending fiasco have clearly proven that there is little censure to fear if you can make money destroying what you’re supposed to watch over. Does that make the shepherd in the story a capitalist? Perhaps not. In any event, he’s clearly a very bad shepherd.
Or maybe he isn't. Eventually most shepherds probably do partake of some homemade shepherd’s pie. Perhaps the sheep should have known that their idyllic existence of nibbling grass under the wide blue skies and the watchful eye of their benevolent be-crooked god couldn’t last. I mean, you’d think that the occasional offering of their wooly coats would be payment enough for being cared for by the shepherd (protection payment in the truest sense). But that’s the problem, isn’t it. Give an inch, they take a mile. Makes you angry, doesn’t it? Maybe you don’t need that tall two-legged type anyway. You can look after yourself. You’re not like a poor, lost little lamb, right? Piss sheep off enough, I guess they can become libertarians.
This story could just as easily be a fable for the Catholic church, though. Or any church. A shepherd failing his flock is bad, but blaming the flock for it is far worse. It could also simply be the tale of a hungry, defensive shepherd.
Through March, I'm posting a breakdown/analysis of the microfiction I posted on the corresponding day in February. This is probably only interesting to you if you care about the mechanics of writing, or if you know me personally.