An economics professor said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. The class had insisted that socialism worked - and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer for all, for society. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
He said that 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 was given 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 hadn't studied much for the first test had studied even less, and the ones who studied hard weren't motivated to study hard again, and they 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 anyone else. All failed .... and the professor told them that the socialism they wanted would ultimately fail, as they had, because the reward of success normally goes to those that work harder, but when government takes the reward away; few will try so no one will succeed.
Comments (77)
Hmm! Socialist is a name I'm often called. (Especially from Republican-Christians) And yet, I never understood the argument that I'm a socialist, but Yeshua was not.
I believe people should be allowed to compete in market place. (I believe this more than Republicans do really.) Also I own my own business so I obviously believe in charging for my services. I believe people should be rewarded for good work, and that the better said work is the more one should be rewarded. (In short I do believe in merit.)
But every time I disagree with a Republican-Christian they say I'm a socialist.
This is amazing because they are also resistant to the idea that Yeshua really was. He was obviously far more socialistic than me though: 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Luke 6: 13 You cannot love both God and Mamon. Matthew 19: 16-21, Mark 10:17-21, Luke 14: 26-33, Luke 18: 15-22, and 3:11. Then you see that the very first Christians actually followed Yeshua's socialistic attitude. Acts 2: 44-45.
Very true. The fact of the matter is that no system of government works. Sure, it works in theory, but a lot of things work in theory. In the end, people are fallen and will seek themselves 9 out of 10 times. Whether it be free-market capitalism, socialism, communism, egalitarianism, republicanism, theocracy, timocracy (i think that is the right spelling!), etc., they will all fail to do what they are supposed to do. And even though I agree that socialism doesn't work, I also don't think that the US's form of capitalism works either. We just have to live with the government that we are under at the time and give to Caesar what is his and give to God everything else! God's perfect kingdom is our only hope and it will work! ;) Good post!
Sorry didn't mean to preach, it's just that some of the people over on that side of the aisle drive me so nuts!
And no, I'm not suggesting you are one of them. I'm just saying!
indeed
@nidan - is that to be considered socialism or a theological concept of unity? which is different than enabling... Socialism i think enables... Christ tries to unify people in the sense of charity... which means in a sense... when one church member drives a BMW, it's unloving and definitely unChristlike to let that happen when a brother or sister across the sanctuary is barely making ends meet and in desperate need... thats not socialism... that's love because it's helping out family...
@leadworshipper82@revelife - Well when the RC claim I'm a socialist simply because I'm a liberal they are essentially commiting the same falacy. But I do understand your point, and for the most part agree with it.
@nidan - by liberal meaning...
Socialism has an excellent record in destroying economies.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I don't know why people haven't understood this yet.
Great thoughts.. :)
This is why I vote libertarian.
@JJ_Ames - Yep. I heard a great saying... "Socialism is wonderful until you run out of other people's money" ;)
@ultravioletskies08 - People seem to need things explained to them in simple analogies nowadays
Similarly, no one seemed to grasp the link between the socialist concept and what Obama said throughout his campaign in regards to "spreading the wealth around". Silly people.
@JadedJanissary - Interesting. Exclusively Libertarian?
@sky_gel - Thank you :)
@nidan - I'm not really grasping how you could be called a socialist by what you wrote above in regards to the principles you believe in. Obviously, the love of money is destructive, but that is no basis for allowing the government to take what you earn and spread it around as they see fit. Christ gave many examples in the Bible of being good stewards of our money and even praised men in a few parables who were resourceful and "invested" their money wisely.
So people call you a socialist just because you consider yourself a liberal?
@londonsgirl - I will vote for independents on some occasions as well, or other non rep/dem candidates with appropriate philosophies.
Excellent entry!
@the_earth_isnt_humming - Capitalism is the only one that works. Pure capitalism.
@tjordanm - There is no such thing as pure capitalism. And even if there was then it would only work in theory anyways.
@the_earth_isnt_humming - There is such a thing, it just hasn't been implemented. And it would work in reality, not just in theory.
The USA spent as much of the late 19th century in recession as it did out of recession, something changed only by harnessing and controlling the free markets through some degree of government intervention. Unbridled capitalism is no cakewalk either, and has an equally dangerous economic track record.
@tjordanm - Well, we don't know if it would work if it hasn't been implemented up to this date...and I am still not convinced of its actual existence without some impurity involved in it. Even if there was a pure capitalism, someone will corrupt it, because that is what we, humans, love to do! But I digress and will let you have your vision in tact until it is actually implemented! God Bless.
@NikBv - Unbridled capitalism has never existed.
But since you think it has, tell me one of its failings.
@the_earth_isnt_humming - Humans are perfect beings--the fact that they might fail from time to time is not a part of their nature, just an anomaly. And as for pure capitalism, it is possible to implement, and when corrupted is only done when the principles upon which a nation is built is flawed--it is possible to cut those flaws out.