Angry Ant Tribe

 

Angry Ant Tribe

 

Agudengba put some tsampa crumbs in his hand and fed his new friend, the black ant. Just under the huge Terminalia elata tree, the black ants began to sing the Tibetan Buddhist ballad "Song of Enlightenment" with sorrow and indignation.

Agudumba said to the black ants: The ants have a strict caste system. In fact, humans also divide themselves into different classes, such as the propertied class and the proletariat, and later the middle class emerged. Now another "ant clan" class has been born.

Do you know what an "ant tribe" is?

Ant tribe refers to a group of low-income college graduates in the city, who usually live in poverty. Most of those who belong to the ant class hope to find a good job in the future, a job where they can use the knowledge they learned in college. The term "ant tribe" was coined by a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial City University who compared the lives of these university graduates to those of ants. What they have in common with ants is that they live in groups in narrow places, such as urban villages. The ant tribe is usually composed of people born in the mid-to-late 1980s. Although they are smart and diligent, they are unknown and have meager income. It is considered the fourth disadvantaged social class in Chinese society, equivalent to the traditional disadvantaged groups farmers, migrant workers, and workers who have lost their jobs due to the economic downturn.

The black ants were very surprised: the "ant tribe" turned out to be not an insect tribe. Rather, it specifically refers to the social ant workers who work hard without complaint, work long hours, work loyally, and have team spirit. They are a low-income and disadvantaged group with knowledge and culture.

Agudumba praised the black ants:

Ants are tiny crawling insects with the habit of living in groups and the innate ability to dig holes. Ants are social animals, and there are often tens of thousands of ants in an ant nest. This is consistent with the physical characteristics of ant colonies living in groups. In addition, ants are very weak, but if they are not given enough attention, ants can also cause serious disasters, so some people call ants "weak and strong". These characteristics of ants are very similar to those of the "ant tribe" in that they are vulnerable, low-income, not noticed, and can easily cause many social problems.

I admire the ant spirit very much, it is the spirit of ants chewing bones. Hard work, loyalty and team spirit are the outstanding characteristics of ants. In addition, ants have many advantages that are easily overlooked by humans, such as diligence, hard work attitude, etc. And precisely these advantages are highly similar to the "ant tribe" group.

Ants also have a spirit of never giving up: if someone tries to block an ant's path, it will immediately find another way. Either climb over or under the obstacle, or take a detour. Another example is the expectation that ants have: all winter long, ants look forward to summer. In the harsh winter, ants always remind themselves that the cold is about to pass, and warm and comfortable days will soon come. Even the rare warm sunshine in winter will attract ants to come out in large numbers to stretch their muscles in the sunshine. Once the cold snap hits, they immediately hide in their warm nests and wait for the call of the next sunny day.

The "ant tribe" group has many similar characteristics to ants: high intelligence, weak, and living in groups. But to a certain extent, this is a group that has been ignored and forgotten, a group that few people pay attention to and sympathize with.

Black Ant asked: Why do the "ant tribe" groups live like worker ants?

Agudemba said: Because the upward path of human society is narrowing, it is increasingly difficult for children of urban and rural lower-class groups to enter higher levels through education, employment and other channels. Poverty is undergoing intergenerational transfer; and those with more Children from families with economic and power resources are more likely to obtain higher social status and work income, and wealth is also undergoing intergenerational transfer. The poor will always be poor and the rich will always be rich, which raises concerns about the rigidity of social classes and social stability.

Agudengba sang a song "The Dream of the Ant Tribe" posted on the "Ant Tribe" website:

 

We are a group of hard-working but poor ants,

Our efforts and knowledge have become in vain.

We are a tribe of ants living in a colony,

We are worthless ant slaves.

 

We cannot express in words the ideals of the past,

The future you hope for in your heart is just a beautiful fantasy.

We cannot break through the lies that surround us,

We couldn't make an escape plan.

 

The king's dream melody always has only one note,

All the worker ants and soldier ants sing the same song,

Our dreams only belong to one person,

That man is the shameless king.

 

Sing other people's songs, dream other people's dreams,

For the rest of my life,

Being plain and poor is always you,

Prosperity and wealth will always belong to others.

 

I will risk everything to sing a song for myself,

I tell the world with my singing,

The ants are not ignorant and timid cowards;

We are no longer confused and helpless to tolerate.

 

We sing our own songs,

We are fragile but strong,

We are helpless but optimistic,

We are sensitive and tough,

We are strong but not humble,

Although we are poor,

The only hope I have,

Just believe that reality can be changed,

Maybe tomorrow...