A young woman was about to finish her first year of college.
Like so many others her age group in college, she considered herself to be very liberal, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a typical liberal 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 need for more government 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 lots of 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 to 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's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've 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 capitalist side of the fence."
If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between capitalist and socialist or progressive or neocon I'm all ears. If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!
If a capitalist doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a socialist doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a capitalist is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a socialist is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a capitalist is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a socialist is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a capitalist is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A socialist wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a capitalist doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Socialist demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a capitalist is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A socialist non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.(Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)
If a capitalist decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A socialist demands that the rest of us pay for his.
If a capitalist reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A socialist will delete it because he's "offended".
Obviously you confuse socialism with communism :) think about that difference, someone else can easily make up a story of similar kind to confuse capitalism with anarchism too. I would classify the above "forward mail" as typical American-styled propaganda :O
ReplyDeletegood for a laugh only :)
the above forward is valid only till the point of the father's statement "Welcome to the capitalist side of the fence."
ReplyDeletethe parallels drawn thereafter are all irrelevant, to say the least. i concur with jay's comment there.
while it is true that capitalism drives progress, it is also a fact that in the capitalism model, the divide only increases, and results in the depletion of the middle class. the elite and the privileged few fare better and better... besides, even in a capitalist democratic society such as US, the top of the line capitalists at one point of time or another turn to socialist / philanthropic / benevolent thinking (e.g. gates, buffet, etc), but the fact is that the best way is somewhere in-between, e.g. india...