The Great and Historic Battle of the Flies

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Meeting on the field of battle…

 

by Michael John Scott

I was sitting out on my new front deck this morning when I happened to notice a tiny winged creature, not a common fly, but more like a tiny bee, who I shall call Chief Sitting Bull, the reason which will become evident later in this narrative.  The chief appeared to be busily feeding on some tidbit or other.

After a few minutes a huge black fly, who I shall call General George Custer, swooped in with his soldiers and started hassling their smaller cousin, stealing its food and muscling it out of the way of the feast.

General George Custer

From my vantage point, high above the fray, I would have wagered Chief Sitting Bull would rapidly go down to defeat, but that was not to be, despite General Custer’s mighty army, the chief took on his adversary with a ferocity rarely seen beyond the Lord of the Flies. Within minutes, the chief’s friends and allies began to appear, swarming General Custer and his band, attacking from the right flank, and the left, with a full-frontal, and rear-guard assault, not to mention swooping in from above, finding their targets with unerring aim.

Chief Sitting Bull

The general’s troop slowly began to disperse, first this way and then that, routed by an enemy long underestimated and often scorned in the annals of The Fly.  There was one remaining Black Fly, overwhelmed by the chief’s band. It appeared to be General Custer, now on his back kicking and struggling until he was still, covered in the colorful, biting bodies of Sitting Bull’s fearless warriors.

Is there a hidden message here?  Perhaps.  After all, people are much like flies, when it comes to territorial behavior are they not?  We the people have our scuffles and skirmishes often over territory, food, and other bobs and bits we find necessary to live, even if some would not deem them necessary, creating yet more conflict.

As I mused over this concept I wondered if I somehow insulted black people by identifying the usurping fly as black, after all, Black Flies Matter, or if Native Americans might be angered by my reference to the tiny defending insects as Sitting Bull’s warriors.  Or, for that matter if tiny insects would be offended by my referring to them as tiny.  One just never knows anymore.

About Post Author

Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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Bill Formby
2 years ago

I guess it all depends Mike, on the amount of hurt felt by the offended party, be it a fly, a Native American, or someone of African descent. I think we all characterize others of different ethnicity or race occasionally with no ill intent. But it reminds me of a subject of discussion in a class I taught on cultural biases. The discussion had gotten to jokes about others who were from a different race, religion, political affiliation, or ethnicity. The jokes themselves are interchangeable. Example: Since I am an Alabama alumnus, Did you hear about the Auburn student who could never find his way home? His family moved to sixth street but he could only count to 5. You simply interchange the group to be insulted and it works regardless of who or what they are. That is from the telling side of the joke. What we often do not consider, or in some cases do not care, do we give a shit if we are hurting someone’s feelings. I know in some cases we probably don’t. That then becomes a part of our problem these days. It seems to be part of being human to enjoy inflicting degradation on other humans because it puts them in a lesser class then us.

2 years ago

Well that makes perfect sense, although I’m not sure how small Sitting Bull’s band was by the time of the Little Big Horn.

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