# Specific version of "Teach a man to fish"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specific-version-of-teach-a-man-to-fish/840211>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 14, 2019, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specific-version-of-teach-a-man-to-fish/840211 "2019-09-14T12:13:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specific-version-of-teach-a-man-to-fish/840211/23 "2019-09-16T15:08:56Z")

</div>

[This](https://jonmcnaughton.com/patriotic/americana/teach-a-man-to-fish) is the most recent iteration of “Teach a Man to Fish” to enter my consciousness:

> [@](#):
>
> Teach a Man to Fish" by Jon McNaughton
> 
> “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
> 
> I imagined President Trump sitting next to a young college student. His pack is beside him and his Socialism and Justice Warrior books laid aside. He listens to Trump’s proposal and looks at the different bait he can use to catch his fish. Trump offers him a fishing pole. Each of us has the freedom to choose our own destiny.
> 
> Trump has suggested through his educational policy that people can be taught a skilled vocation. How will Trump make America great again? I believe this mantra is about giving American citizens an equal opportunity to find success. Equal opportunity is different than equal results. You can give a man a pole, it doesn’t mean he will use it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specific-version-of-teach-a-man-to-fish/840211/24 "2019-09-16T16:37:07Z")

</div>

Oh, Jon, you so funny.

I imagine the same encounter between President Trump and a college student.

Trump: “Hey, hippy, what are you doing? This is my lake. All the fish in it belong to me.”

Student: “This is a public park.”

Trump: “I’m the President. That means everything in the country belongs to me.”

Student: “I don’t think that’s true.”

Trump: “Don’t believe what you hear on the Fake News.”

Student: “Okay, whatever. I’m leaving anyway. There aren’t any fish in the lake.”

Trump: “That’s because illegal immigrants ate them all.”

Student: “What?”

Trump: “Listen before you go, you should buy this fishing pole. Only a hundred dollars. And it’s the greatest pole ever.”

Student: “That’s my fishing pole.”

Trump: “Not anymore. Sad.”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specific-version-of-teach-a-man-to-fish/840211/25 "2019-09-16T19:17:46Z")

</div>

Maxim 21: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Take his fish away and tell him he’s lucky just to be alive, and he’ll figure out how to catch another one for you to take tomorrow.  
—The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specific-version-of-teach-a-man-to-fish/840211.md?page=1)