"A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and was very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.
One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.
Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"
She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus, college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and many times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."
Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. that way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."
The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played, while I worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican Party""
Tags
Free Market Capitalism
Socialism
2 comments:
young man was about to finish his first year of college. Like so many of his age, he considered himself to be a very conservative Repulican, and was very much in favor of lower taxes for the very wealthy.
He was deeply proud that his mother was a staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the his experiences growing up, and the occasional chat with church leaders, he felt certain that low taxes were fair and allowed his family to keep what they thought should be theirs.
One day he was home at his parent’s country estate, sitting on the veranda with his parents, and nodding in agreement to their opposition to high taxes for the very rich and their desire to cut government welfare programs. “If people need something, they can just go out and work for it”, they all thought.
As they sat there on the veranda, smoking cigars lit with $100 bills, the son asked his parents if it would be possible for him to spend the summer in Europe, or possibly Burma. His mother wasn’t so sure, but as she began to express doubts, his father cut her off in mid-sentence and said, “Sure, that sounds like a great idea”. The son also asked if his college roommate, Biff, could get a summer job as a stock trader in New York. “That can easily be arranged”, said father.
Later that evening, after a few hours of drinking, his mother asked "How is your 2nd cousin’s friend Lefty doing?" He replied, "Lefty is barely getting by. Since his parents were killed while working for the Peace Corps in the Sudan, he’s had to sell his blood to help pay his growing medical bills. He’s trying to enroll in night school, but by the time his shift is over at the battery factory, he can’t get to school in time unless he bought a car. And he can’t afford tuition anyway. And it looks like they’re going to close the battery factory soon.
His father asked his son, "Why don't you go and see Lefty next week and ask him if he ever considered roofing as a career. “You see, son, the family roofing business is having trouble attracting enough illegal immigrants to fill out our roofing crews. Your friend Lefty sounds desperate enough to consider a career in roofing.”
The son thought for a moment about poor Lefty. He said to his father, “couldn’t the government do something to help Lefty get an education, or at least some vocational training, and maybe help with some of his medical bills, just till he got back on his feet?”
The father looked at his son, gave him a funny look, and said sternly, “What’s gotten into you, you sound like a Democrat!”
JZ Smith responds: Well done! You appear to have spent so much time writing such a good reply I couldn't, in good conscience, not publish it.
Although aside from a rather witty and well-written reply, I'm not quite sure what the point of your comments are. All of the programs you suggested already exist: 'free' education through high school (paid for by the wealthy through taxes and donations), 'free vocational training (ROP program), low income grants for community and junior college classes, and if someone studies hard and gets good grades, scholarships, grants, etc. are available to help everyone who seeks it out.
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