Just Something To Ponder!!
By rodney850
@rodney850 (2145)
United States
April 15, 2009 11:32am CST
For all of you people who believe life would be a dream under a socialistic government and all of you who might be on the fence about this subject, consider this true story:
An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little.. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that....
2 people like this
8 responses
@deejean06 (1952)
• United States
15 Apr 09
Hi rodney...If socialism is so wonderful, why are there people fleeing Cuba in little boats? Can anyone answer that question?
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
16 Apr 09
I have a friend from Cuba who was arguing with a socialist today. The guy was trying to tell him that Castro wasn't really bad and that it was the American media that painted him in a bad light. My friend asked him, if Cuba is so great, why does Cuban immigration only go in one direction?
1 person likes this
@lynnemg (4529)
• United States
16 Apr 09
VEry good example as to why socialism would not effectively work. I think that it is a very true scenario. Seriously, if one person is motivated to succeed and as a result does quite well for themself, why should someone who is not motivated at all be handed the same rewards?
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
15 Apr 09
That was an excellent example. Simplified so that surely even the dumbest of people can understand how it works and the results of socialism.
1 person likes this
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
15 Apr 09
That is as good of a way to show how socialism never works that I have seen yet.
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."-Sir Winston Churchill
Unfettered capitalism will always prevail... government interference in the free market will always give us what we have now.
Anyone who fails to see this simple truth is simply not paying attention... or they don't care.
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
15 Apr 09
Nice story. I checked Snopes and they haven't been able to figure out the origin of it. It sounds reasonable enough, but without it actually happening, one can't give it too much credibility.
I would probably use the pay scales in many of our public schools as an example of failed socialism. In some of the school systems here in Florida, all teachers get the same pay and pay raise each year. Performance is irrelevant. Whether your students are the smartest in the school or the worst failures you still get the same standard raise as everyone else. All one needs do is look at the abysmal failure of public schools here to see how that worked out. Of course my information is a bit out of date since most teachers haven't had a pay increase in years and some have taken pay cuts.
@jonesy123 (3948)
• United States
16 Apr 09
I hear that story one way or another all the time. I guess now that it is out there, teachers/professors actually use it as an example. I used it to explain things to my oldest daughter. Even a second grader gets it.
Taskr, here performance is also not a factor in teacher's pay. It should be. Then again, the teacher can be terrible and yet there can be excelling students in the classroom. As I said, my oldest is in second grade. I had teachers send home newsletters and other notes with spelling and grammar mistakes so blatant that my daughter ask, if that wasn't wrong and it even stood out to me for whom English is not the first language. We have to do a lot of work at home for my kids (I have another in Kindergarten now) to do as well in school as they are. I'm not saying my kids are exceptionally bright, but if we wouldn't sit with them and teach them the basics, they certainly wouldn't learn it in the classroom and pass all the tests they need to. To make matters worse, the tests they take to judge their aptitude are done on the computer. They are standardized. But if the kids don't make it the first time around, they have kids who passed them sometimes sit with those who don't to help them out a bit. This way more kids pass. With this stuff happening, a teacher's performance would be up, too, although not by their own doing.
Okay, I'm ranting, but paying teachers by performance is not a surefire solution to improve education. They need to start to make it harder to be a teacher in the first place. A teacher should at least know the basics of reading, writing, grammar, and math for the elementary level, which is obviously not the case in this state. They even allow moms to sub who have no teaching experience whatsoever, not even a college degree is required. If they have a high school diploma they can sub teach at any level. Boggles my mind.
@jonesy123 (3948)
• United States
16 Apr 09
Ever since somebody first came up with this story, it's apparently been used in many classrooms, lol. But it explains the concept very well even to my second grader.
If everything has to be shared, the laziest member of the group will be the one everybody will mirror him/herself after. Hard work doesn't provide more gain. There is simply no incentive for hard work.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36445)
• United States
16 Apr 09
This is quite an interesting way to look at things as well. I think this really does help explain things a little more, but in reality all parties of people could really learn something from this as well to help them realize that to be someone or something better, you need to be willing to work at changing things in life a little more as well.
@ladyluna (7004)
• United States
16 Apr 09
Greetings Sir Rodney,
I have heard, read, and even created many such analogies. Though, this one is truly terrific. The details make it -- economics class, series of exams, the great equalizer ... and of course the times. I 'bout fell out of my chair when I read recently that some poll pegged nearly 1/3 of U.S. citizens as supporting Socialism. I'm sorry that I don't remember which poll.
What? Hey folks, if 1/3 of Americans support socialism, then you, me, Aunt Tilly, and Uncle George need to start attending local school board meetings -- whether we have school-aged children or not. The poll indicated that the preponderance of support for Socialism is encompassed in our youth. That means that teachers in our locals schools are feeding the insatiable minds of our youth with some pretty bodacious hogwash.
Only those older than their late thirties remember for themselves how many millions, and millions of people that Socialism murdered. Now, it's been wrapped up in pretty packaging, with a bright red bow, and is being spoon-fed to tomorrow's leaders. Uh folks, it's time to get involved!
People, please ... if you can't find the time to read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, then please commit to the pittence of time that it will take to read, or re-read "Animal Farm" by Orson Wells.
http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/animal_farm/23.html
http://www.azete.com/preview/59480
