My Dad sent me yet another right wing e-mail. I felt compelled to reply... Anyway, just thought some people here might enjoy the back and forth.
The e-mail... maybe you've seen it?
This man is truly a genius!
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before,
but had once failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that Obama's 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 Obama's plan".
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.
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 and 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.
My reply:
It's really interesting to see these straw-man arguments put forth by certain right wing political groups. In their world, anything that doesn't conform to an absolute free-market is Marxosocialcommunist and will lead to the destruction of society as we know it. All it takes to "prove it" is some fictional anecdote... whether it's Atlas Shrugged, or the story you sent.
Here's another one to consider... Just as silly, I'm sure you'll agree.
An economics professor at a local college was teaching a class, and told the class they could get their grades by any economic system they chose...
The class decided that pure free market economics was the best system, and the laws of supply and demand would make sure that everyone did their best, and hard work was rewarded.
The professor then said, "OK, here's what we'll do. For each grading, there will be 1 A to give, 3 B's, 6 C's, and 10 D's and that's it."
"That's not fair", some of the students complained. "There are 30 students in the class, and only 20 passing grades!"
"Well", replied the professor, "That's supply and demand for you. There's not much supply and lots of demand. So, you'll have a lot of incentive to work really hard."
At the end of the class, grades were handed out and a few the students got together...
"I got an F!", exclaimed Jenny, "It's not fair, I was sick for 2 weeks, and didn't have any way to get notes. The professor told me I should have thought about that before I got sick. I can't believe this... I'm not lazy, or an idiot, I just got sick!"
"Well I got a D", complained Tim. "I can't believe this. I studied really hard - harder than ever before. I did really well on all my tests, and thought I would get a good grade. I really had a good handle on the material too... I don't deserve a D - people will think I didn't even try... I mean, I was in the top half of the class!"
"Ya, I got a C", said Tracy, "I had to hire a private tutor, and quit the drama club in order to have more time to study. I can't believe even after all that, I just got a C. I mean, now I have a huge debt to pay, and nothing to show for it."
"Well, I got a B", said Mike. The others looked confused... They'd seen Mike at a lot of parties, but he usually slept through class. "I hired one of the pHD students to do all my work. Sure, it cost me a lot, but so what, I'll make it back after I graduate and get a good job with my grades..."
"I got an A", Ed bragged. The others looked at Ed, and were shocked... They hadn't even seen him in class. "Well", he explained, "I just had to make a few phone calls. My Dad is a huge contributor to the school. There's even a building named after him. This free market class was great for me... it was just like real life. People know who I am, and respond accordingly..."
The professor overheard all this and smiled. "So, you've learned how the real world works", he lectured. "If you get sick, and don't have some kind of insurance, you're pretty much screwed. If you stay healthy and work really hard, you can do a bit better... maybe you'll even go into debt to try to get ahead. But, if you really want to succeed, you have to get someone else to do your work... And if you're born into wealth and know how to game the system and manipulate people, you can get pretty much anything you want."
Anyway, I didn't have anything really profound to say... just for fun I suppose.