I've always been fascinated by ants. So tiny, yet so capable of doing things far beyond their own minuscule size.
It is said that nothing could grow in the soil without the constant aerating action of billions and billions of ants. The farmer's fields would lie barren -- nothing could be produced -- if it weren't for these seemingly insignificant creatures who, most of the time, remain invisible as they go about their business.
Ants are the ultimate metaphor for the working class. They are everywhere; they are necessary for other life to exist; and when they work together, they can totally kick ass.
Follow me below the fold for some inspiring videos and thoughts about the power of ants -- and the power of ordinary human beings to make extraordinary change.
Sometimes we feel like we're too small or too weak to really make a difference -- but we're wrong. We see a task before us and it looks overwhelming, so we're tempted to give up. But when this ant was trying to pull another insect ten times its size, it didn't give up. It kept taking different angles at it -- not making much progress at first -- but finally it found a way. Once a winning strategy is discovered, progress can be easy with constant effort. And you might be able to achieve much more than you ever would have expected. Watch the whole video and you'll see a perfect example.
Do you think miracles are impossible? These ants would disagree. They walk on water, and through the power of teamwork, float together across rivers like living boats. What's our excuse for not doing things that are equally breathtaking on a human scale? If we all work together, anything is possible!
Fire ants are "taking down the system" every day, in their own way. Watch this video from the beginning to 2:38. If such tiny creatures can have such a big effect on the human world, we humans have no excuse for thinking we can't make major change in our own world when we see that something needs to be disrupted, stopped, or reformed.
As I was thinking about ants and their relevance to people-powered movements for social and economic justice, I was reminded of a diary published a few weeks ago, The View from World Headquarters, on the upper floors of a Very Big Bank, looking down at the ants.
Sure, to the Rulers Of The World looking down at the masses, We The People look like just a bunch of insignificant ants. Let them think that. Ants are mighty and underestimated. And you can step on one ant, but you can never crush them all. If you tried, you'd probably end up like the evil dude in the Indiana Jones movie who gets eaten alive by a swarm of raging ants. Or like this lizard, reduced to mere bones by the persistent cleansing action of nature's relentless and underappreciated scavengers. As you watch this video, imagine this reptilian creature as the Big Wall Street Banks and the ant swarm as the emerging karmic payback of The People.
Some dinky little ants doing their thing and changing the world: