Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for January 16, 2021

Why should he modify his behavior when he was right? Snow goons are bad news.

Another moral Calvin came up with (or will come up with) is “live and don’t learn.” Well, it was Hobbes who said it, but work with me here

Those snow goons sure could have used some behavior modification.

That’s a pretty good one to live by though.

Besides the obvious moral on not trying to play God.

2nd lesson. Don’t use the hose in the winter. Yes, I know he had to kill snow goons. But he should have used a blowtorch instead. Would have been much more effective imho…

Calvin will never behave .

Leave it to Calvin to make bad news.

Glad he added the “Snow” before the “goons”, else it would have been a problematic maxim.

So you’re going to leave the snow goon monument stay in one piece, Calvin?

Thirty years later and goons are still bad news.

Calvin, you have an absolutely glowing career in politics ahead of you!

So this story is basically the same as God creating man, except Calvin didn’t let any of them live after he flooded them with a garden hose like God did with Noah. I can see God walking with his tiger friend through the woods saying “humans are bad news”

or facts that require you to admit you were wrong?

Not sure why Hobbes thinks that the lesson should be inapplicable elsewhere. I guess he’s just promoting snow goon equality.

Watterson here is I am thinking, ridiculing the way that most media for children then as now is meant to teach something, but was not always effective. Calvin just better not bring snowmen to life again.

We have a similar expression about political trolls.

I like the term “behavior modification.”

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Or something like that.

This is the poster dialog for the “Fantastic Aesop” TV Tropes page. It also calls to mind another trope applicable to C&H: “Status Quo Is God.”

“Oh, lord, it’s hard to be humble when I’m perfect in every way”. No behavior modification needed.

Yet another twist on the “no news is good news” saying.

How about “Don’t tamper in God’s domain?”

I really like the way Watterson drew the snow goons, especially when he was showing them active. I’ll miss them.

Snow goons are bad news

The question is: where do Mom and Dad hide the blowtorch?

Another thing Calvin could have done is while they were frozen, he could have melted them while they were frozen.