why socialism (and Obama) fails

[LDB]

This is an accurate example although it's made up because there are no professors who can get away with teaching the truth in this manner.



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 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 socialism. 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.

Could not be any simpler than that!

 

[DougTravels]

Cute story however it has nothing to do with Our fine young president.

I just don't understand why you are so upset that we finally have competency running our government.

 

[baracade]

Well said LDB! from a fellow Texan!

 

[hondaking38]

agreed!! what a great post!!

 

[tallcal101]

Doug my good man,there was a name for these foolish fellows in the early 50's.
McCarthy Republicans.Rabid scare mongers with a narrow minded focus and the ablilty to single out and black list a ****ed commie socialist at the drop of a hat.
And the beat goes on,but who's listening except their pathetic little selves? Not a soul.

 

[LDB]

Doug, I don't see any competency running things. Yes, we've changed significantly from the last administration but we have not improved any. If you can't see anything clearly illustrated in this "cute story" to give you some idea of why Obama can't do what he wants to do then there's no point in discussing it further and no hope until you see the results.

Cal, there used to be a term for guys like you a few years ago too I'm sure. I just woke up and can't come up with a single word or term so I'll go with explanation instead. Either my memory fails me or maybe it's wishful thinking but you used to write in a more readable fashion with paragraphs etc. as well as engaging in good debate rather than repetitive Bush bashing and name calling. Lately you can't seem to be bothered with grammatical or writing style and no longer engage in mostly polite banter, exchanging it for mostly name calling and dwelling on the prior administration.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

The US has all the social programs Canada has...right down to Medicare and Medicaid....cept not fully funded...you have SS, unemployment, disability, welfare....I see no real difference...

 

[greg334]

The US has all the social programs Canada has...right down to Medicare and Medicaid....cept not fully funded...you have SS, unemployment, disability, welfare....I see no real difference...

The difference is that when they didn't cover every problem or disability, they worked and were funded enough. There is no reason why a 16 year old who was "diagnosed" with some form of learning disability should be in SSI, the same goes for a drunk drug addicted idiot who can't keep a job.

But Medicare and Medicaid is a boondogle and needs to be cut back and changed. For example the people (like my father) who can afford their own health insurance is forced to take medicare because it is the law. If we allowed them to continue with their paid health care, how much money do you think we would save.

 

[Pilgrim]

Cal, there used to be a term for guys like you a few years ago too I'm sure. I just woke up and can't come up with a single word or term so I'll go with explanation instead. Either my memory fails me or maybe it's wishful thinking but you used to write in a more readable fashion with paragraphs etc. as well as engaging in good debate rather than repetitive Bush bashing and name calling. Lately you can't seem to be bothered with grammatical or writing style and no longer engage in mostly polite banter, exchanging it for mostly name calling and dwelling on the prior administration.

You're right Leo - there have been several labels for these types of left-wing radical leftovers from the early 1970s, and for what it's worth my #1 choice would be "Flower Children". These were set apart form the more violent left-wingers that were bombing police stations and National Guard Armories. These were the kids that were in college with no particular purpose other than to rebel against any type of authority and be accepted by the "new generation" on campus that all dressed alike, grew their hair and marched in lock-step to the same credo of free love, drugs and rock 'n roll. They were against the Viet Nam war because "it was wrong", but if pressed they weren't exactly certain why. They just knew they weren't going to personally sacrifice anything for their country that made their freedom at college possible. These were mostly pampered rich kids that stood on street corners handing out flowers that somebody else grew; their most important decisions were which war protests (parties) to attend in any particular week. Their most stressful moments were calculating the minimal number of classes they needed to attend to keep their II-S draft deferment(if they were male). Often, they just dropped out of school altogether and lived like bums after their parents got fed up and cut off the money from home. After Nixon withdrew the troops from Viet Nam and ended the war their movement just faded away.

Fast forward to the present and we find that a most of the "Flower Children" matured into responsible adults that came to appreciate the opportunities and freedom they took for granted in their youth. However a few others still thrive on their misguided socialist idealism, showing their contempt and intolerance for anyone who isn't just like them. These few individuals are kind of like Cheech and Chong movies - old and boring.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

What I mean to say is the same personal infractions happen right here as well...

zoning by laws....building permit to add to your house....can't burn your leaves in the city limits, dogs have to be on a leash,

regulations, regulations that impede our choices of lifestyle...
you have to have a vendors license to sell if you start your own business....

The rich and powerful have always ruled the poor...

Governments govern by power....since the Roman times....there has been no such freedoms you speak of....

 

[tallcal101]

It's interesting to me on several levels how those that were not there,or were children or tot's at the time are experts on the generation that so changed the landscape of their time. Pilgram obviously has not a shred of a clue,but thats not really surprising.
The flower children were a manisfistation of Grey Line tours as they brought mid west creeps and their even creepier wives through the Haight. We used to flip them off and throw the peace sign for laughs.
No Pilgram,we had a little more serious stuff going on,like art,and music and radical politics and ending a fascist war and attempting to make a difference in the way people view the earth. We were recycling when it was not a word.We were reusing clothes,not because we had to,but because we wanted to.We lived communally as an experiment in community.
I came from a wealthy family that I walked on at 18 and never took another dime from.When I got out of jail and went to college I worked tirelessly for the Vietnam Vets Against the war. I never wore a flower in my hair my freind,but perhaps when your parents came through on a Grey Line bus they saw the filty hippies smoking pot on Haight Street and still talk about it The joke was on them.Don't humor us any more on this suject Pilgram as you are so out of your league it's a really big joke. Leave it before you make a bigger fool of yourself then you do normally.

My comparison with the everyday comments on this site about our outstanding young President are rife with the very same brand of finger pointing and conspiricy theory,in my opinion,that destroyed many true Americans lives through nothing more then red baiting and talk of socialism and the sky falling. Fortunatly,people in general don't buy this nonsense any more as they are far better educated and the red menace,or socialism if you chose,works in many countries worldwide. If it's not your thing,thats cool,keep paying the insurance companies to rip us off and provide third world care.While we are at it,lets machine gun away all the poor minorities (by the way there are more poor whites then ever before) so they won't abuse the fractured health care system anymore.

I expect you will never properly eat your humble pie as it will taste rather rancit by the time you get around to it.If I appear to be somehow over the top and illiterate as Leo seems to think,I'm still crazy after all these years,but this time the craziness is flavored with genuine hope that nothing the naysayers bring to the table will be anything more then grist for the mill of negativity and will be silenced by their own shouts as they turn to mear mumers.
I'm fired up boys,really fired up. That old hippy dude who fought so hard to bring sanity to the America of 1967 feels very vindicated,and it feels really good.Even went to a Dead show 3 weeks ago and hung with 15000 of my people ( of all ages by the way).
Peace and love guys and gals,the dreams alive !!

 

[witness23]

Oh man.....you guys done ticked him off. Nice rant Tallcal!!

 

[LDB]

It's interesting to me on several levels how those that were not there,or were children or tot's at the time are experts on the generation that so changed the landscape of their time.

Based on that reasoning then nobody is an expert on anything prior to 1900 since everyone is dead who lived through that time.

No, I don't think you are illiterate. One doesn't go from being literate to illiterate. What I think is you have devolved from someone who used to take the time to write well thought out and well worded arguments replete with paragraphs and punctuation to one who now primarily writes the same unformatted Bush hate speak. More's the pity as your former style was much more enjoyable than your current style.

I used to mistakenly think you were someone similarly above average in intelligence who held basically opposing viewpoints and who enjoyed a good debate over topics with someone you considered relatively equal to you other than in beliefs. From several posts I now know what you really think of me. That's your prerogative and that's fine. Now we know where we stand.

 

[tallcal101]

Leo,I don't recall making any reference's to Bush in my little rage against
Pilgrams highly charged and foolish charges about those of us who attempted to make an honest,legal statement about the last unjust war. I'm still well informed,have not stopped using proper grammer,still don't use spell check,and only shovel back what is shovled out.

I happen to feel your use of the word vomit as a verb to descibe people you don't like is disgusting,very un Leo like. The old Leo would never have stooped to that level. However,the new Leo advocates assasination of our President by using the "I don't support it,but it will probaly happen" excuse. Get off your high horse my good friend,your really upset and you let your mouth go where it never used to go.Tit for tat Leo,that's how it comes down. Don't like the heat,turn down your own rhetoric. I believe if you review some of your more recent out bursts you may find that I'm correct.Civil is not letting those vague little innuendos slip out,you know which one's I mean.

I mean what I say when I conjecture that the anger and frustration over having a popular, left leaning young charismatic leader is just more then some can possibly handle.How can you be so against his policies up till now when he's had to deal with the mess that was left him? I sense a case of denial about these facts.The reaction of some is to use words like vomit,Obumer and other childish name calling and taunts.The worst I have said is "w" and implied he may not be the brightest bulb in the box.I never advocated killing the guy for God's sake.
I'll tell you what,I will endeavor to clean up my writing skills,keep w out of the conversation,and be sure and spend hours ripping off blogs to support my opinons.
Well,I really don't have time for the last part,but the other things I can dh,by the way,any room for a little humor at others expense? Don't confuse it for something it's not meant to be.I feel like I'm being graded here,did I pass?

 

[Pilgrim]

It's interesting to me on several levels how those that were not there,or were children or tot's at the time are experts on the generation that so changed the landscape of their time. Pilgram obviously has not a shred of a clue,but thats not really surprising.

One of your problems from being so caught up in your own bloviation that you don't pay attention to what others have to say, nor do you pay credence to it if you do. I WAS THERE, PAL - I'm 62 years old and was right in the middle of the scene at two different major universities for seven years, starting as a 17 year-old freshman in 1965.

No Pilgram,we had a little more serious stuff going on,like art,and music and radical politics and ending a fascist war and attempting to make a difference in the way people view the earth.

Sounds groovy man - we had more trivial stuff going on like classes in finance, economics, statistics and business law. Granted, we had plenty of parties and goofing off but we weren't obsessed with trashing our own university administration buildings and disrespecting our country and it's soldiers. By the way, most of the people I hung out with did NOT support the Viet Nam war. We expressed our opinions by working with political parties on campus to get new politicians elected who could get us out of the mess that JFK and LBJ created.

Don't humor us any more on this suject Pilgram as you are so out of your league it's a really big joke. Leave it before you make a bigger fool of yourself then you do normally.

As usual, you're trying to talk down to anyone who isn't you or just like you in an effort to belittle them and marginalize their opinions. This is just another symptom of your seething bigotry toward Southerners, Conservatives, Republicans and anyone else who isn't exactly like you. You're wrong - I'm not out of my league; I and perhaps some other conservatives on this forum are just not in the same league you are. Or maybe I should say you're not in our league. Objective observers can evaluate the content of our respective posts and determine which leagues are major or minor.

My comparison with the everyday comments on this site about our outstanding young President are rife with the very same brand of finger pointing and conspiricy theory,in my opinion,that destroyed many true Americans lives through nothing more then red baiting and talk of socialism and the sky falling. Fortunatly,people in general don't buy this nonsense any more as they are far better educated and the red menace,or socialism if you chose,works in many countries worldwide.

Time will tell us how the boy president is handling things - it's a bit too soon to make a judgement. For those who have studied history and economics, a pretty good prediction can be made: look what happened with Jimmy Carter's economic malaise during his administration. My own guess is that BHO's misery index will be worse than Carter's, and I hope I'm wrong. Regarding the worldwide success of socialism, it might be moderately acceptable in a few small countries with limited economies. It will never be acceptable in this country where private enterprise and capitalism are responsible for us having the highest standard of living in history.

If it's not your thing,thats cool,keep paying the insurance companies to rip us off and provide third world care.While we are at it,lets machine gun away all the poor minorities (by the way there are more poor whites then ever before) so they won't abuse the fractured health care system anymore.

You obviously don't know much about third world health care. Granted, the health care system needs some serious work but govt. is not the answer. "Machine gun away all the poor minorities"

I expect you will never properly eat your humble pie as it will taste rather rancit by the time you get around to it.If I appear to be somehow over the top and illiterate as Leo seems to think,I'm still crazy after all these years,but this time the craziness is flavored with genuine hope that nothing the naysayers bring to the table will be anything more then grist for the mill of negativity and will be silenced by their own shouts as they turn to mear mumers.
I'm fired up boys,really fired up. That old hippy dude who fought so hard to bring sanity to the America of 1967 feels very vindicated,and it feels really good.Even went to a Dead show 3 weeks ago and hung with 15000 of my people ( of all ages by the way).
Peace and love guys and gals,the dreams alive !!

If I wind up having to eat rancid humble pie due to the economic and social successes of Barack Hussein Obama I guess I'll have to add ice cream and dig in! However, I doubt this will be the case. The political pendulum has swung to the opposite end of the arc, and you're entitled to your enjoyment of the victory. However, do yourself a favor and don't try to talk down to those of us that don't share your social views or your political opinions. There are a lot of us baby boomers that have done pretty well in life without ever having been to Berkely or San Francisco, and we're all entitled to keep our respective dreams alive.

 

[LDB]

I believe I said people regurgitating the same liberal lines and didn't use the word vomit. I've often heard repetitively stating the same thing called regurgitating whatever it is. I'm sorry you find that offensive but I believe it's a fairly common expression. No, I am not advocating any assassination attempts, just observing the likelihood of it happening. I suspect were you to get a straight answer from the Secret Service they'd admit a greater anticipation of it now than at other times.

I don't think my content has changed. There just is more to criticize now than there used to be, although I was and am critical of Bush and predecessors as well. Perhaps you have been less ebullient than some in feverish adoration and praise of Obama as well as vitriolic demonizing of Bush. Obama doesn't have anything to stand on yet as president and his record in the Senate as well as his associations and standing on positions doesn't warrant ebullience. If/when he proves himself in any area I'll support him in that area. Until then it's his poor and wrong prior career.

 

[Turtle]

You know, something strikes me with the initial premise of the classroom, where the teacher says, "All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A."

He starts out telling everyone that no one would receive an A, but also that no one would fail. Then he proceeds to fail everybody. He lied. That right there is your lesson in socialism. Socialism promises you everything, sounds good, sounds wonderful, but in the end it gives you nothing, because it can't. Human nature dictates that it can't. Not if it's honest about it right up front. And if it's honest about it up front, no one will want it.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Canada and the U.S have nearly all the same programs...have had for a long time....

 

[greg334]

Canada and the U.S have nearly all the same programs...have had for a long time....

your repeating yourself, your Loop button stuck again?

 

[Falligator]

I am neither conservative, nor democratic. I vote simply by seeing who can best do their job. I cannot hope that Obama will fail, but that there can only be "Hope". What is seen from my ant burning glasses is that this is a give and take society. I believe the phrase goes, "Different strokes for different folks." If everyone hoped that Obama will fail just like Rush Limbaugh then what would be the point of being an American??? As an American I hope that this president suceeds, this country suceeds, and the American Dream can once again be realized. Things didn't work when Bush was running things, and just today on CNN I heard a report that the fed chief is expecting an end to our recession within a couple of months and a turn around before the end of the year. This is also supported by several leading economists. It is however, this administrations responsibilty to make sure that we get ourselves out of debt and fix our growing social security crisis. Maybe instead of crabbing and moaning can someone come up with a legitimate idea on how to get ourselves out of debt & have affordable health care coverage, and if we do this we can work on social security. Folks, right now is a time when we need to come together and lift each other up. I know the situation doesn't look good now, but I'm sure we will get through this.