The Boy Who Cried Wolf is probably most famous for being a fable designed to admonish people against lying, pranking, or stirring the shit in general. It's second only to Aesop's Woodcutter, in which we learn honesty is the best policy.
The lesson pounded into my head by rapacious gorillas as a child was that the more frequently you bullshit people, the more annoyed they become, and more likely to dismiss you. Therefore, when something actionable becomes truly necessary, assistance is noticeably lacking.
In the story, it takes a mere three times for the boy to illegitimately call for help before the cantankerous townspeople dismiss him out of hand. Thrice he calls "wolf" when there is none, and thrice the townspeople come torches and pitchforks in hand. When a wolf did actually appear, they had grown tired of his antics, and didn't bother coming.
There's an additional lesson to be learned here; and one of which Sun Tzu would approve.
Complacence is death.
The townspeople had grown tired of the boy's shenanigans, and to be honest, he probably wasn't mature enough to be saddled with the responsibility of tending sheep anyway.
Nonetheless, the wolf did come.
The prior wanton cries for assistance may not have been real, but the townspeople lost sight of the fact that the threat was.
The wolf eventually did come; and when he did, he helped himself to whatever he wanted.
Why is the second lesson so important? It's happening right now.
Every day.
Iran is moving forward with their nuclear program, Russia is poking us in the ribs with Syria, pilots are shitting themselves worrying about drones flying beside their planes domestically, and North Korea has now vowed to end the sixty-year old ceasefire agreement (I have warned about that many times), and we wave dismissively, thinking "yeah yeah, sure sure."
Why?
Because "we're 'Merica"?
Complacence is death.
The wolf eventually will come; and when he does, he'll help himself to whatever he wants.
