An Interesting Anecdote...

[Guest052813-01]

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 spread-the-wealth 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.



Note: I saw this in a "Comments" section from a story regarding Obama's visit to MA on 01/17/2010 (http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal..._obama_ral.php). I believe the use of "Obama" in the anecdote replaces another socialist/communist, but regardless, it does provide an interesting point of view.

[Guest072311]

Originally Posted by fritz3552

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.....

To clarify = An anecdote is a short, free-standing[1] tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident[2] involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place. However, over time, modification in reuse may convert a particular anecdote to a fictional piece, one that is retold but is "too good to be true". Sometimes humorous, anecdotes are not jokes, because their primary purpose is not simply to evoke laughter, but to reveal a truth more general than the brief tale itself, or to delineate a character trait in such a light that it strikes in a flash of insight to its very essence.
So the professor is not local and probably never existed. This is opinion rather than fact?

Originally Posted by fritz3552

I saw this in a "Comments" section from a story regarding Obama's visit to MA on 01/17/2010 (http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal..._obama_ral.php). I believe the use of "Obama" in the anecdote replaces another socialist/communist, but regardless, it does provide an interesting point of view.

Socialism refers to the various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a method of compensation based on the amount of labor expended.

Most socialists share the view that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital and derives its wealth through exploitation, creates an unequal society, does not provide equal opportunities for everyone to maximise their potential and does not utilise technology and resources to their maximum potential nor in the interests of the public. [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism[/ame]

Marx and Engels and more

[Guest052813-01]

Originally Posted by ss4699

So the professor is not local and probably never existed. This is opinion rather than fact?

As I noted in the "Note" section, the anecdote (and I think it is used properly in this instance), this was pulled from a comments section of an on-line article, to which I linked towards the end of my "Note". Therefore, the "local" may have been local to the poster, which could have been anywhere in the country. Opinion or fact, I don't really give a rat's ass one way or another - this isn't your forum or your thread, so your rules in the thread you started do not apply in this thread.

[MsElena]

nevermind

[Guest090920]

Originally Posted by ss4699

This is opinion rather than fact?

It matters not whether it is opinion rather than fact, this is all a dream. Do we need to hide your keyboard again?

[Guest072311]

Originally Posted by scorpio31

It matters not whether it is opinion rather than fact, this is all a dream. Do we need to hide your keyboard again?

Originally Posted by fritz3552

As I noted in the "Note" section, the anecdote (and I think it is used properly in this instance), this was pulled from a comments section of an on-line article, to which I linked towards the end of my "Note". Therefore, the "local" may have been local to the poster, which could have been anywhere in the country. Opinion or fact, I don't really give a rat's ass one way or another - this isn't your forum or your thread, so your rules in the thread you started do not apply in this thread.

Gentlemen start your engines?

Fritz - not the boss here, as you noted. I did not intend give you "orders" so if it sounded that way you have my apology. Not all of the readers here are well oriented so I shared what anecdote was to make sure they were clear on what was posted, understanding Obama was not the orginal subject and the event was probable fictious. I was trying to avoid any conflict, but it did not seem to work.

Scorpio, first time to see your handle. Dreams, interesting topic too. Should be a good topic for another thread if you want to start it?

And Elena, an apology to you if there was an offense. Hope your visit to KC goes well.

[BottomlessFilth]

Socialism is crap, ultimately, although I want to believe in it as much as the next hippie errr I mean next person. I dream of a world that offers Health Care for everyone on equal terms, but we all know that is probably far from becoming a reality. What they are proposing now will probably only hurt a lot and help a few, ugh. The USA was built on and continues to thrive on "The Rich Get Richer & The Poor Get Poorer!" mentality. Why the f*ck would the rich people who can actually make a difference want to change that? That would be like telling a child they are not going to get any Christmas presents, but instead their parents are going to donate all the money to charity. It is not something that can be fathomed to naive children or the blindly rich. They only have their eyes on "their" own prize, personal well being! So be it....It is a free country, at least for now LOL.

Moving On LOL...the anecdote thing reminds me of the movie "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" when Steve Martin rips John Candy's ass about his stories not even being remotely funny LOL. Man I loved all of the John Hughes movies!!! More than anything in life.....I Love To Laugh!!!

[Guest090920]

Originally Posted by ss4699

Scorpio, first time to see your handle. Dreams, interesting topic too. Should be a good topic for another thread if you want to start it?

Search your memory, it will come to you; use the force.

Your statement is confusing. Are you making a statement or asking a question?

[Guest052813-01]

Well, I thought it was humorous - it brought a smile and a chuckle when I read it, which is why I posted it. To each his own, I guess....

[MsElena]

Originally Posted by ss4699

Not all of the readers here are well oriented so I shared what anecdote was to make sure they were clear on what was posted, understanding Obama was not the orginal subject and the event was probable fictious. I was trying to avoid any conflict, but it did not seem to work.

And Elena, an apology to you if there was an offense. Hope your visit to KC goes well.

SS.

You didn't offend me, but I do think you offend some with that sentence. lol

I just think that not every post needs to be dissected. People can figure them out and if they can't, well they can ask about it. That's what I do and that's how people continue to learn in life.

Thanks for the well wish. I know it'll go well with the people I know.

[swarmyone]

Well I thought it was funny...and disturbingly accurate. Thanks Fritz

[growler]

" A young man who isn't a socialist hasn't got a heart, an old man who is a socialist hasn't got a head".....David lloyd George

"The problem with socialism is that you evenually run out other people's money.".......Margaret Thatcher

[KCQuestor]

Originally Posted by fritz3552

Note: I saw this in a "Comments" section from a story regarding Obama's visit to MA on 01/17/2010 (http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal..._obama_ral.php). I believe the use of "Obama" in the anecdote replaces another socialist/communist, but regardless, it does provide an interesting point of view.

From Snopes.com:

While we can't as yet pin down the origin of the grade averaging piece, anecdotal evidence indicates it's at least fifteen years older than its 2009 outbreak would tend to indicate, in that one of our readers says he heard it at bible college in 1994 from a professor teaching world civics.

[BigMikeinKC]

Chicken Little said the sky is falling!

[Guest072311]

Originally Posted by swarmyone

Well I thought it was funny...and disturbingly accurate. Thanks Fritz

I thought it was humorous and did make a point...in context and content.

Questor - From Snopes.com:

While we can't as yet pin down the origin...at bible college in 1994 from a professor teaching world civics

Snopes is always ahead of the curve is so many ways. I'll risk a comment here and apologize first. For those that do know, sorry for the repeat, those that don't know about Snopes, it is a site dedicated to examining the "truth" behind comments found on the web (www). It is for validity of information like Google is for website information.