example of socialism in the classroom

Yaj Yak

Gladys
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i don't know if anything of this actually happened or anything, but i like the story a lot. so i am sharing.

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently 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 will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
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. As the tests proceeded, 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. To their great surprise, ALL FAILED 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. It could not be any simpler than that.
Remember, there IS a test coming up. The 2012 elections.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.


the five bullets towards the end are what really made me want to post it, because they hold so much truth.
 

Turk

Lt. Ron "Slider" Kerner
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The problem is, the people getting "F's" in the first place are jealous assholes, and really don't care what happens, as long as the people getting "A's" are brought down to their level. The jealousy and hatred the "poor" have for the "rich" in this country is disgusting, considering the rich pays for the livelihood of the poor.
 

Yaj Yak

Gladys
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exactly. its sickening.

my girlfriend has people she works with that try to work as little as possible because they don't want to jeopardize their state aid they get because they have had a kid...

if they work too much, they lose their aid. so why the fuck would they have any desire to work more than a day or two a week when they are getting money towards housing, as well as food :rofl: its so sad and sickening its ridiculous.

i liked mrdragsters statements about how the richest people will spend 100X more money on taxes than the average american will make in a life time, but yeah, lets tax the people who bring ideas and creativity to this country more.

fucking dolts.
 

Turk

Lt. Ron "Slider" Kerner
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Yup, I see it all the time KJ. This fucking country also rewards having bastard children. I may never get married, that way when I have a kid, I can still claim him on my taxes, yet since we aren't married, he'll get free healthcare. W00T!!! No wonder there's so many kids without fathers.
 

Mike K

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Apr 11, 2008
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John (EmersonHart) just put this on Facebook. My response:

Would be a great read if it was relevant but it's not. Obama isn't even close to being a socialist nor is he trying to eliminate the wealthy. He, and other people like him, are trying to even the playing field so those that have a lot of money don't have more tax loopholes than those that don't.

Furthermore, unless you're being taxed at a VERY high rate (70, 80%) the incentive to succeed doesn't go away. You have to make money to pay taxes. Even if you're being taxed at 50%, which is ridiculous, you get more money if you work harder. The incentive doesn't go anywhere.

But what really steams me about this is that it's a straw man argument of sorts. It refers to it as "Obama's Socialism", a false statement and then before you even get a chance to realize that's not an accurate assessment, it goes on to tell you why socialism fails. The argument is correct. The assessment that Obama is a socialist is not. By the time you get to the end you think to yourself " yeah, this makes sense" and all the sudden you're incorrectly associating Obama with socialism, 25 people like your status, 20 people repost it and the cycle goes on.

I'm not a huge Obama fan but internet chain mail like this is trash. It serves to misinform and nothing else.
 

EmersonHart13

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I got a little kick back on FB after I posted this so I posted a response...

Whoah, touched a nerve here. Sorry Obama lovers. I am not necessarily a hater but I don't see the stats that suggest he has improved our country during his term.

Full Disclosure I loved Bill Clinton. Yeah he made mistakes but those were in his personal life. Yes I full expect you to roll out some stats that he laid the ground work for where the country is today.

I also think Ross Perot had it right, run the country like a business, a non-profit business. I would never invest in our government. (Mike would you?) Unless I was one of the super rich with money to invest in a company on the brink of failure and hope for big gains.

I think that a flat tax is the answer.

I do not think my views will ever be our government. :)

Now why do I think this post is somewhat relevant?... No Obama is not a socialist, not by a long shot but I do enjoy when people post stuff that makes him into one because it is entertaining. Am I spreading misinformation? No because I am not an expert on the subject. Never claimed to be and never will be.

I support drug testing for people that receive benefits from the government. Heck, I'll piss in a cup to make sure the PD and FD come out to my house when I call.

I think people like this post because they are sick and tired of going through the check out line at the local grocery store and seeing people pay with food stamps. They use their food stamps to buy junk food. These people have nicer cell phones than me. They have nicer clothes than me. They drive nicer cars than me. They have multiple LINK cards. etc etc etc...

More Full Disclosure... I have a great life. I am very very very very fortunate. I do not know what it is like to live in a cardboard box on lower wacker cold and hungry. I have always been spoiled but that doesn't mean I am ignorant. I support charity regularly, but I should probably do more.

That being said should we have "unlimited" unemployment benefits? I have heard real life stories, not internet nonsense, of people who do not get jobs because they will make less than unemployment. To me that is bad system. These people on unemployment should be picking up trash at our parks, volunteering, etc...

Yes Obama means well, as probably all politicians do. (Wow did I just say that?) But the political system trashes it all. As the head of the "company" he takes the blame. That is how it works in business and that is how it should work in government.

Thank gosh at least there are term limits for presidents. I think all political office should have term limits.

Now go ahead and tear me up, in the end we have all accomplished nothing because only our vote counts and lately less and less people are doing that... Why? SSDD (Same Shit Different Day)...
 

EmersonHart13

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I didn't even touch the fact that most of my property taxes pay for schools, schools that I will never take advantage of because my wife and I are not having kids....

Why? Because educations makes our nation better in every way so I have no problem supporting it.

And yes I liked my own post on Facebook. It feels good to be a gangsta.
 

jason05gt

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Jan 17, 2007
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John (EmersonHart) just put this on Facebook. My response:

How about level the playing field FOR THE TAXPAYERS? No more deficit spending, no more entitlements, make people pay their fair share across the board (the rich pay the majority of taxes, 50% of Americans pay no income tax), no more bail outs which reward risky behavior, smaller/leaner Government producing less waste, less Government involvement in our daily lives telling us what we can't and can do.....Isn't that what freedom is all about?

Obama's "leveling the playing field" motives are a joke. If you want to level the playing field, get the Government out of areas where they shouldn't be and reward responibility and hard work. Reward innovation and reward the business owners who took a personal risk to build their business. Taxation is the least of our worries and shouldn't be addressed until the Government proves that they work for us.
 

Mike K

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Apr 11, 2008
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How about level the playing field FOR THE TAXPAYERS? No more deficit spending, no more entitlements, make people pay their fair share across the board (the rich pay the majority of taxes, 50% of Americans pay no income tax), no more bail outs which reward risky behavior, smaller/leaner Government producing less waste, less Government involvement in our daily lives telling us what we can't and can do.....Isn't that what freedom is all about?

Obama's "leveling the playing field" motives are a joke. If you want to level the playing field, get the Government out of areas where they shouldn't be and reward responibility and hard work. Reward innovation and reward the business owners who took a personal risk to build their business. Taxation is the least of our worries and shouldn't be addressed until the Government proves that they work for us.

They might not be paying income tax but they're paying payroll taxes. So they're paying into the system. The reason that many people aren't paying income tax is because of all the exemptions put in "FOR THE TAXPAYERS" as you say. It's not as if these people are sucking the teet of America though. They pay their fair share.

I agree. No more bail outs. I wasn't on board with the automaker bailouts.

I pay more in taxes than many here make in a year. I'm not saying that to stick it to anyone. There's no swimming pool full of money in my backyard. I'm saying it to make a point. My effective tax rate for 2011 was 23%. Proportionately I pay the same or less than someone with a $50,000 salary job. I like paying 23% but I feel that because I have reaped more reward that if anything I should put proportionately more back into the system and certainly not less.

Am I paying more tax than the average person? Yes. Am I paying proportionately less, yes. Would a higher tax rate reduce my incentive to make money? No, not at all. It's a naive person that thinks that higher taxes remove incentive to succeed. The only way I can get taxed is to make money. If I make more money I pay more taxes. So regardless of the taxes I pay, there's still an incentive to make more money. Anyone that would stop trying to make money because of a higher tax rate is cutting off their nose to spite their face and probably shouldn't be in business anyhow.
 
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