So Simple Even a Knuckle Dragger Old GI can Understand It

[1OldGI]

Received this in email the other day.

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 so......m 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 so......m. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. The Class agreed!


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 so......m would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward and shares it with those not earning it, no one will try or want to succeed.


It just doesn't get any simpler than this.

Brilliant instructional technique! unfortunately though such forrays into the world of reality happen all too infrequently in the hippied halls of American academia. Their charge is simply to produce compliant little egalitarian peacenik, internationalists who, despite the benefit of formal education are probably about as out of touch with reality as your nearest bi-polar schizophrenic.

 

[82R100]

'Shame you had to write about C*I*A*L*I*S over and over again.

- Chris

 

[Koss]

Simplify things much?

Of course, in the real world... there are those of us that will strive to better ourselves. Strive to study a subject because it interests ourselves greatly. We get excited researching it. We lose track of time becoming absorbed in it. If you only study because you want the best grade... you are doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. Its not some game we are trying to get the highest score in. Out in the real world, it rarely matters in most instances. Plus it can be likely that a student in the middle of their class can surpass the top of their class in knowledge out in the work force. Because they continue to learn, if the other stops. Or becomes egotistical.

There are small business's out that that their owner puts in 16 hour days not because it will get them more money. Or because they will make more than their previous career was making them. Because it doesn't. They receive less income. But they do it because it is what they love. It is their passion.

I can not understand how you can have such a view of "American Academia". Isn't that a very large net you are casting out? Do you think this vast liberal conspiracy group has inflitrated every subject major? From Music theory down to Physics? Why would any of those "egalitarian peacenik, internationalists" views even have anything to do with Physics, or Astronomy?

 

[Stubblefield]

As a teacher, I find your analysis a little suspect. No matter.

However, I loved the story, and found it quite hilarious! Keep 'em coming.

 

[Commander Quan]

Simplify things much?

Of course, in the real world... there are those of us that will strive to better ourselves. Strive to study a subject because it interests ourselves greatly. We get excited researching it. We lose track of time becoming absorbed in it. If you only study because you want the best grade... you are doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. Its not some game we are trying to get the highest score in. Out in the real world, it rarely matters in most instances. Plus it can be likely that a student in the middle of their class can surpass the top of their class in knowledge out in the work force. Because they continue to learn, if the other stops. Or becomes egotistical.

There are small business's out that that their owner puts in 16 hour days not because it will get them more money. Or because they will make more than their previous career was making them. Because it doesn't. They receive less income. But they do it because it is what they love. It is their passion.

I can not understand how you can have such a view of "American Academia". Isn't that a very large net you are casting out? Do you think this vast liberal conspiracy group has inflitrated every subject major? From Music theory down to Physics? Why would any of those "egalitarian peacenik, internationalists" views even have anything to do with Physics, or Astronomy?

Read into things much?

 

[Koss]

Read into things much?

Absolutely.

 

[Hawkeyeted]

Simplify things much?

Of course, in the real world... there are those of us that will strive to better ourselves. Strive to study a subject because it interests ourselves greatly. We get excited researching it. We lose track of time becoming absorbed in it. If you only study because you want the best grade... you are doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. Its not some game we are trying to get the highest score in. Out in the real world, it rarely matters in most instances. Plus it can be likely that a student in the middle of their class can surpass the top of their class in knowledge out in the work force. Because they continue to learn, if the other stops. Or becomes egotistical.

There are small business's out that that their owner puts in 16 hour days not because it will get them more money. Or because they will make more than their previous career was making them. Because it doesn't. They receive less income. But they do it because it is what they love. It is their passion.

I can not understand how you can have such a view of "American Academia". Isn't that a very large net you are casting out? Do you think this vast liberal conspiracy group has inflitrated every subject major? From Music theory down to Physics? Why would any of those "egalitarian peacenik, internationalists" views even have anything to do with Physics, or Astronomy?

"Relax Francis."

 

[Kratos]

Why, so, seriousss? it was funny. A lot of today's MTV/American idol generation fits the description he gave. Not everyone, but I don't think it was that serious of a post. Just a lil' social commentary.

 

[pmast]

"Relax Francis."

You made coffee come out of my nose. I haven't seen Stripes in a very long time.

 

[Maduro]

"Relax Francis."

 

[1OldGI]

Part of the confusion may have stemmed from the fact that the word "So......m" seems to be auto-corrected to so.......m. I thought perhaps that something had gone wrong with cut and paste so I edited the post to spell the word out but again it appeared in the rightspeak format. What about in other contexts? How about...the Union of Soviet So......t Republics, or Hitler's National So......t Party?

No, it didn't take. What's up with that? Is it censorship or is there a firewall to block S*O*C*I*A*L*I*S*M? If C*I*A*L*I*S is for some reason blocked, I'm not sure I understand why. I mean we talk about all kinds of brand names why would that one be censored? Mods, what's the deal here?

Koss,
It really was not meant to be a scathing indictment of every individual person in academia. Certainly not every college Professor is a liberal or even a Democrat, no more than every GI or every Cop is a conservative Republican. However, these institutions (academia, the military, and the police) do have a certain environment (politically). If (as I suspect from your post) you are an academic, you should understand what I'm getting at having been there and done that. The fact of the matter is that the extremist liberal agenda is huge in academia. Fact is that a professor figure who happens to be conservative had better keep that fact very close hold. Discussions of pro-choice, feminism, political correctness, and Darwin's theory are all covered under the free marketplace of ideas theory but let a conservative talk about pro-life, creationism, patriotism, love of country, strong national defense, or anything that runs against the grain and tolerance (the very mantra of the liberal left) would be tossed out the door along with the conservative Republican professor. Much the same as a GI who refuses to deploy to the AOR because he/she thinks Al Queda, and the Taliban are just poor oppressed minorities who have been exploited and incited to violence by the evil imperialist American agenda (I dry heaved about six times just typing that sentence BTW)

We now have an academic in the White House who believes that wealth re-distribution and (the S word) is the direction we should take. It's just not fair that folks that make good decisions and work their butts off have a good life and poor decisions and laziness result in a not so good life. Rich people are to him "just lucky" and don't even deserve the fruits of their labor and good decisions. My story (although perhaps an oversimplification) does accurately communicate what has happened everytime someone thought this kind of thing was a good idea. Being (apparently) a man of science, you , more than most, should understand that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. No need to lock the thread, just a civilized discussion.

 

[82R100]

V*I*A*G*R*A, too.

 

[RazorDingo]

Received this in email the other day.....

Ever notice how often these words are followed by a fourth-hand nugget of risible reich-wing sophistry?

Just a little social commentary. For those of us who know what the word "sophistry" means.

 

[82R100]

...not to mention "risible".

 

[richmondesi]

Received this in email the other day.....

Ever notice how often these words are followed by a fourth-hand nugget of risible reich-wing sophistry?

Just a little social commentary. For those of us who know what the word "sophistry" means.

 

[Island Brian]

Read into things much?

Actually, I think Koss made some excellent counterpoints, in particular that the over-simplificaton of the tale bears no relationship to anything in the real world.

Also, I cannot find this quote among the readings of Sir Thomas More: "Incongruously, wretched poverty is linked with expensive tastes, as all classes of society." I did find the quote as the words of Robert F. Clark in "THE EARTH AS A COMMON TRUST - Implications for a Minimum Income Guarantee," in a segment where he talks about More's Utopia. But the words do not appear to be those of More. Perhaps I am misreading.

What More did say is "provide everyone with some means of livelihood, so that nobody's under the frightful necessity of becoming first a thief and then a corpse"; "Stop the rich from cornering markets and establishing virtual monopolies"; and "Revive agriculture and the wool industry, so there's plenty of honest, useful work for the great army of unemployed." No wonder the guy is a Catholic saint.

 

[1OldGI]

Actually, I think Koss made some excellent counterpoints, in particular that the over-simplificaton of the tale bears no relationship to anything in the real world.

Also, I cannot find this quote among the readings of Sir Thomas More: "Incongruously, wretched poverty is linked with expensive tastes, as all classes of society." I did find the quote as the words of Robert F. Clark in "THE EARTH AS A COMMON TRUST - Implications for a Minimum Income Guarantee," in a segment where he talks about More's Utopia. But the words do not appear to be those of More. Perhaps I am misreading.

What More did say is "provide everyone with some means of livelihood, so that nobody's under the frightful necessity of becoming first a thief and then a corpse"; "Stop the rich from cornering markets and establishing virtual monopolies"; and "Revive agriculture and the wool industry, so there's plenty of honest, useful work for the great army of unemployed." No wonder the guy is a Catholic saint.

More, Thomas. Utopia, Penguin Books Ltd. New York, NY, 1963 (pg 48)

Razor Dingo, thanks so much for graphically illustrating the vitriolic nature of most lefties. I've insulted no ones intelligence or attacked no one, just a civil conversation. And oh by the way sophistry was a spelling word I used to give to 7th graders. As much as it suits your poorly constructed world view that all GIs and all Southernerns are grunting, illiterate, sociopathic cousin f**kers, it just ain't so. Especially not for this one.

 

[cricky101]

Received this in email the other day.....

Ever notice how often these words are followed by a fourth-hand nugget of risible reich-wing sophistry?

Just a little social commentary. For those of us who know what the word "sophistry" means.

 

[Fnord5]

@ all of this....

Other than the commentary on social-ism.

In theory, yes, the ideal situation.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

Only problem is that humans are greedy bastards, and will always try to get by with the least amount of work.

 

[RazorDingo]

Razor Dingo, thanks so much for graphically illustrating the vitriolic nature of most lefties.

Excuse me, but when you manage to categorize our nation's university students as "compliant little egalitarian peacenik, internationalists" who are "about as out of touch with reality as your nearest bi-polar schizophrenic" then really I don't care too much about hurting anyone's feelings.

Like so many foolish old Reich-wingers, you seem awfully eager to dish out abuse on other people, but you cry like a little child when anything gets thrown your way.

Stick to things you actually know something about.