The Sky Is Falling
Maybe Chicken Little Was Right
There is a famous folk tale that originates from Europe called “Henny Penny.” In the United States, we know the main character as Chicken Little. In the story, an acorn falls on Chicken Little’s head. Chicken Little is convinced that the sky is falling and, thus, begins an adventure as she rushes off to tell the king. Along the way, she runs into her bird friends with the words, “The sky is falling!”
Of course, we know the sky is not falling, but Chicken Little and her friends believe it. At the end, a disguised Fox decides to use their panic to lure them into his larder. In the children’s book versions we know today, the Fox is recognized for who he is. Chicken Little and her friends all escape. Phew.
However, in the original folk tale, the birds go into the home of the Fox and are never seen from again.
There are several morals and lessons to be learned from the story. Since the election, I find myself thinking of this particular story a lot. I couldn’t quite figure out why I have been drawn to it so I looked it up and learned something interesting.
In 1943, Chicken Little was made into a 9-minute short film by Disney that warns people of the dangers of mass hysteria and finding the bravery to stand up authority. This short was produced as an anti-Nazi message during World War II. In this film, the Fox was not merely a charmed canine who ran across panicked birds. No, it was the Fox who dropped the acorn on Chicken Little’s head.
Foxy Loxy spreads misinformation and plays on the fears of all the birds so that they won’t listen to the wise bird, Cocky Locky, who knows the sky is not falling. The cunning Fox encourages the other fowl to listen to easily manipulated Chicken Little and not trust the leader of the poultry farm. So, the birds go against their own self-interest and leave the safety of their home. Once they do, Foxy Loxy strikes and all the birds are eaten. At the end of the movie, their bones are lined up, resembling a war grave site.
The parallels of this children’s folk tale and what is happening today are clear. For the past 9 years, there has been a man who started yelling to everyone “The sky is falling!” He made claims that only he could fix those problems as long as everyone follows him. This man spoke to people’s negative feelings—namely hatred, anger, and fear. It’s easier to manipulate someone who is unhappy than one who is satisfied.
Unlike Foxy Loxy, Donald Trump is not a planner. And after his election in 2016, he wasn’t fully prepared to follow through with all his plans. He didn’t hire the best people. Even so, Trump made a mark in his attempt to reach his goals of tearing apart our democracy. With a loss in 2020, his efforts were stalled although he had people doing his bidding.
Instead of having a poultry farm full of panicked birds, Trump utilized Fox News and all other right wing media to stir up mass hysteria among his followers. With continuous lies and no other information in their self-imposed echo chambers of biased “news” and only believing what Trump said, millions of Americans decided to believe the Fox. Everyone else was lying to them.
“Stick with us. Don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. … What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”
Donald J. Trump, 24 July 2018
At every rally and speech, Trump has emphasized that the media is lying to everyone—only he is telling the truth. Well, with the exception of the media he approves of, that is.
And, millions of his acolytes believe only him. It doesn’t matter what the facts are, because they believe only Trump.
On November 5, 2024, the Fox won yet again. But now the Fox is more prepared than ever. He has a road map for his next steps. For the past four years, his team and the Heritage Foundation have plotted and planned his next steps. These plans were published — first as Project 2025; then later, in an effort to distance himself from the unpopularity of the plan, Agenda 47.
What happens next remains to be seen, but based on the original tale of Chicken Little, I fear it won’t have a happy ending. I believe that Chicken Little was right, the sky is falling.