IN FABLELAND by Emma Serl is one of the books I retained from my childhood. I think it came from my mother’s farmstead in southeastern Michigan. My book is a tattered first edition (copyright, 1911) of stories told to entertain and educate children on human behavior and ethics. The author and the illustrator used an assortment of animals as the characters. Emma Serl was a teacher of Primary Methods at a Normal College in Kansas City, Missouri, at the turn of the last century. The term “Normal” refers to early institutions that instructed teachers in norms that reinforced targeted societal values, ideologies, and dominant narratives. My grandmother was a teacher in “county normal.” The illustrator, Harry E. Wood, created a visual treat of animals of all kinds in a landscaped backdrop called “Fable Land.”
Fables have existed since people told stories around open fires. Fables are laced throughout all cultures around the world in spoken, carved, and written forms. They mostly take the form of non-human or superhuman entities delivering moral lessons to members of human communities and social structures. With that in mind, one fable in particular stood out to me concerning some current events. “The Lion and the Gnat.”
Leo the Lion was trying to take a nap at home when a single gnat stung him on the lip. The grouchy lion told the gnat to go away, or he would squash it with one blow of his big paw. The obstinate gnat said it was not afraid of Leo and would stay as long as it wished. Leo became outraged at the insignificant insect’s refusal to recognize his strength and authority as, in Leo’s mind, the top citizen of Fable Land. The lion threatened raw power, and the gnat possessed speed and agility. The two argued over who was stronger to the point of agreeing to a fight. Every time the gnat bit Leo on the face, the enraged lion would swing and miss, only to hit his own face with his massive paws. The angrier he got with each sting, the harder and faster Leo hit his own bloodied face, tearing more flesh with his fearsome claws. The battle ended with bloodied Leo running away with his eyes swollen nearly shut. The smug little gnat flew away into the forest only to become trapped in a spider’s web. Unable to escape, the gnat learned the limits of its power.
There are parallels of this fable in the current war with Iran. Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed most powerful, decided Iran had irritated him enough to throw the might of the United States military at it. But Iran is no gnat. It has a seven-thousand-year history of conquering regional empires and fighting Christians over the Holy Lands. Iran has resisted Western influence while developing its own scientific and military prowess. Every American president since Ronald Reagan and their military leaders have understood that Iran was a dangerous and capable adversary.
With the Iranian war fought to a standstill, Trump has not run away like Leo but turned his attention to perceived easier battles with Greenland, Canada, Mexico, and distractions like re-naming historic waterways. But these sovereign countries are no small trifles. Canada has been a long-time partner on all levels with past federal administrations. Trade, manufacturing, tourism, military, and foreign policy are areas of important cooperation and interdependence. That history is totally at risk by the punishing Trump Tariffs implemented on peckish whims. These tariffs bloody not only Canada’s economy but our own. Some of our own American companies will go bankrupt with an extended trade war. Canada, like Iran, like the gnat, is standing up to the arrogant Bully’s ignorance. Canada has a lot more options to fight this foolish trade war than the speed and agility of the gnat.
Canada currently supplies the United States with eighty percent of America’s imported electricity. Seventy-four percent of softwood imports to the US come from Canada. Aluminum, agricultural products, and automobiles are all imported by the United States from Canada. So far, these commodities important to American companies have not been used by Canada in the Trump administration’s instigated trade war. But they could be used if the war continues and escalates. Canada is finding new resolve in not being intimidated by its southern neighbor. It is finding more predictable markets worldwide as alternatives to selling across the four-thousand-mile-long border with a chaotic United States. Then there is the Welland Canal.
The Welland Canal is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes. It bypasses Niagara Falls on the Canadian side of the international border with US. It is, in current language, a “pinch point” for all shipping into and out of all Great Lakes ports. That includes Duluth, Chicago, Detroit, Alpena, Milwaukee, and Cleveland in the US. Each year, three thousand ships pass through eight locks to traverse twenty-seven miles carrying forty million tons of cargo. Canada controls it with a non-profit corporation. Canada decides who uses the Welland Canal. Canada, our long-term partner in all things, is looking to match the instigating lion in the White House blow for blow.
Other lions in not-so-fabled lands are watching the bleeding of America’s face and diminished world influence as it turns its back on former allies in trade and democratic rule. Leaders in China, North Korea, and Russia have their own agendas set loose by retreating American foreign policy and influence. These countries, led by despots with experienced advisors, watch as the American president and close aides expel military and scientific experts to be replaced by cult loyalists short on experience. Donald Trump carries a knife to a gun fight with Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping. Worse than that, Trump uses his weapon to start fights with friendly neighbors and NATO allies he thinks he can beat. Like lions in the wild, better-equipped world challengers are moving to conquer the aging, diminished leader of a previously powerful pride.
In the big picture of history, there are many examples of these kinds of battles between egotistical power mongers with armies and wealth. All rising empires have eventually fallen. Like the fight between Leo and the gnat, someone is vanquished or runs away while the winner gets trapped by the spider. The story ends with the victorious gnat realizing that his gloating win was short-lived.
Who is the spider and what is the trap? A gnat’s lifetime is shorter than human life, so it may take years for people to experience the ensnaring consequences of conflict. A previous victory can be overthrown by a new, hungry, opportunistic person, country, or ideology seeking revenge or dominance. The long-term cost to rebuild what was lost in conflict typically dulls the immediate celebration of victory. Overconfidence in size and strength combined with miscalculation of the opposition sometimes leads to a web of withdrawal, as in Viet Nam. Stalemate resulted in the Korean War and now in Iran.
Winston Churchill, quoting others, said, “History is written by the victors.” That perspective is an incomplete record because there are stories of consequence to both sides of any battle. Righteous feelings of anticipated success can end up in the spider’s web like the gnat. The lessons of “IN FABLELAND” were written for children. It seems like many adults in current positions of power have forgotten those teachings.
