Crabs In The Barrel
The expression “Crabs in a Barrel” has been so widely spread that its blind acceptance goes without the slightest bit of investigation. I mean has anyone ever stopped to ask or even wonder how the crabs wound up in a barrel anyway?
We can ask ourselves, when in nature are crabs ever in a barrel?
Just the terminology “crabs in a barrel” brings to mind an irrefutable imagery depicting a clutter of countless crustacean limbs with pointed ends and clasping claws pulling and tugging at each other in a desperate jostle for position. For any crab in a barrel, the prime position is in being closest to the top. This is a position that might grant the possibility for an inevitable extradition.
Crabs don’t speak in a language that is reasonably discerned in human terms. Yet the ambient dismay is a resonate clash of scrapes and clamorous clicks ruminating the stuff of nightmares. And for the crabs, how can it anything less than a nightmare? It would seem that instinctually they know their fate is grim. Also, given the nature of this not so natural situation, they might conjecture the idea that their fates were predetermined by an external factor.
It is within this context that the term “crabs in a barrel” has been in long use as a metaphor to describe a situation where people in a disadvantaged or highly competitive environment are actively trying to thwart the progress and achievements of others. Much like crabs in a barrel pulling each other down as one tries to climb out.
As a someone totally detached from the literal crabs in the barrel situation because you don’t eat shellfish, or maybe you’re an avid seafood lover and want the crabs in a barrel. Either way it doesn’t matter. At some point you may have wondered way the crabs (metaphorical or literal) don’t form a chain by which they could climb, support, and pull yet even the last one out. You might say, “Well hey they’re just stupid animals.” This assumption would be premature and filled with inaccuracies. The sort of which that can be telling of your hidden intellectual deficits.
Think. It is only by interference that crabs wind up in a barrel. A barrel is not a crab’s natural environment. This means that the crab is deliberately placed in a state of disorientation. There is also the obvious lack of basic natural resources like food. This without doubt elevates and fuels anxiety and delirium. So the metaphorical, or literal crabs are discombobulated and reacting to their new and un-natural environment in new and un-natural ways. Some crabs do quite literally pull each other apart while trying to navigate the desperation of this un-natural situation.
So the next time someone in your magnetosphere uses this infamous expression, or even if you find yourself pulled to compare some critically exaggerated competitive experience (whether personal or professional) to the proverbial cluster of crabs in a barrel, instead of blaming the crabs for their behavior under duress, try to remember that each and every one of those crabs are victims of an entity with a greater perspective and a lack of empathy towards the creature’s plight. The crab wants to live its life. While the hunter wants to take the crabs life. In both cases, the prize is indeed the life of the crab.
The takeaway from all this is in your grand wisdom, don’t quest inquiries into the actions of those in distress. Remember that desperation can distort the integrity and disturb the intellect of even the most adapted figures in the highest of societies. Instead, use your inquisitive nature to peer beyond the image of the crabs in the barrel and begin to conceptualize a broader perspective of the situation. Ask yourself, “why are these crabs in a barrel?” Dare even ask, who put the crabs in the barrel?
#CrabsInTheBarrel #CompetitiveEnvironments #SocialHierarchy #SupportVersusSabotoge #Inequality #Empathy #HumanBehavior #GroupDynamics #SocialStruggles #CommunitySupport #Interference #HierarchyOfNeeds #Critcism #SelfReflection
