How to Teach Socialism

[I Am Right]

How to teach socialism to your children, take all of your kids toys away from them and tell him or her that they are not their toys anymore, they belong to someone else now. Your kids have to many toys and to be fair they have to give away their things.

[AggieTool]

How to teach socialism to your children, take all of your kids toys away from them and tell him or her that they are not their toys anymore, they belong to someone else now. Your kids have to many toys and to be fair they have to give away their things.

That is the smartest I ever heard anyone say...evar.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

I know more than one family with kids who have so many toys, a separate bedroom to dedicated to storing all the toys.

[yermom]

judging from this board it's not just kids that could use some education on socialism

[I Am Right]

judging from this board it's not just kids that could use some education on socialism

Smart post- after 40 yrs of the Educators union- we are left with few people who understand.

[AggieTool]

judging from this board it's not just kids that could use some education on socialism

Wall street and Detroit are already getting the "lesson".;)

[I Am Right]

Once the left gets universal health care, America is officially over.

[Okla-homey]

I like this lesson better, for older kids.

Say your kid has a 3.6 GPA. Say there is a kid in her math class who only has a 1.8 GPA and may not graduate. Tell your kid, in order to provide for this unfortunate kid with the lowly GPA, you're taking .5 away from her and giving it to the other kid, raising his GPA to 2.3 and lowering hers to 3.1.

Its only fair, and she didn't really need those extra tenths. In fact, it would be greedy and mean to hang on to those five tenths, when they are desperately needed by the other kid. Besides, the other kid will now graduate and have a shot at a decent life.:D

[SoonerStormchaser]

It's patriotic to give up that .5 GPA...you forgot that.

[Earickson]

Is this socialism?

A guy spends a lot of money going to college.
Then he graduates and gets a job.
He works really hard and makes decent money, and he gradually works his way up in the company.

His paycheck - that he worked for - and was a result of the education he paid for, the job he applied for and was hired to perform, is not really HIS paycheck. It gets chopped up into tiny pieces by several other people who need it. In essence, his money becomes their money, which becomes their rent, food, bills paid, etc.

My dad - and I'm assuming lots of people's dads - have made a life out of this. He put a lot of work in, and he got a paycheck. He didn't keep all of that money to himself, he used it to support a family. His money became OUR money, and I'm very glad that he and many other parents are good enough people to do this. Lots of folks don't have the integrity to do that, and they just hit the road. How would you like to be those kids?

"where's mommy/daddy?"

"He/She didn't want the responsibility, tough luck kid."

I've thought about this for many years, and it seems pretty obvious that most traditional, nuclear families in this country operate on what looks like a socialistic system. But nuclear families aren't governments. You can't compare the two because they don't relate. You can draw some comparative analogies between the two, but they don't connect.

“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need”

My dad had the ability to make enough money to take care of a wife and two kids, and all me and my sister had was the ability to NEED stuff. So that's how it was, and there is nothing wrong with it.

So don't confuse personal family dynamics with a system intended for governing a society. If you all are trying to make some kind of analogy connecting the two, fine. I just think it s ucks.

[Vaevictis]

I like this lesson better, for older kids.

I remember hearing this one when I was a teenager. It has so many glaring faults that I literally laughed in the face of the kid who told it to me.

The "you're going to have to give people your toys" (or, part of your allowance, paycheck, whatever) is much more appropriate because those things are actually zero-sum, unlike GPA :)

[Jerk]

I remember hearing this one when I was a teenager. It has so many glaring faults that I literally laughed in the face of the kid who told it to me.

The "you're going to have to give people your toys" (or, part of your allowance, paycheck, whatever) is much more appropriate because those things are actually zero-sum, unlike GPA :)

The principle is the same. It's exactly the same.

You work hard, and someone else gets the fruits of your labor.

[Vaevictis]

The principle is the same. It's exactly the same.

You work hard, and someone else gets the fruits of your labor.

(1) It's not the same because GPA is not a limited resource. If you want to up the GPA of the students, you can do so at will. (In fact, this already happens -- grade inflation.)
(2) It's not the same because, no, someone else doesn't get the fruits of your labor. Anyone who thinks GPA is the fruit of education is completely missing the point.

All such a system would do is make GPA a completely meaningless indicator of academic achievement -- which it is already, thanks to grade inflation and students optimizing their schedules to maximize GPA by taking easy courses.

[85Sooner]

GPA is raised. Now both kids apply for the same scholarship and other factors, race sex etc.... determined that the 2.3 gpa gets in over the 3.1 not to mention the 3.1 can't compete with the other folks who kept their 3.6 out there who didn't have to give up their GPA. Its a simple generalization that one is not allowed to enjoy the benefits for their hard work that they rightfully earned.

[fadada1]

isn't welfare a variation of socialism??

or is it actually socialism??

what about bankruptcy?

just a thought.

[OklahomaTuba]

Just teach them socialism by showing how well it works all over the world.


“How does one explain how California is broke, tens of billions of dollars in aggregate debt, despite having among the highest sales and income taxes in the nation?

We are naturally rich beyond belief—timber, oil, agriculture, a long sea-coast, wonderful weather, mountains, sea, and valleys—and inherited lucrative industries in tourism, computers and software, defense and great universities. Our grandparents left us a once wonderful freeway network, a tripartite higher education system, ports, airports, dams and canals.

So what went wrong, and why are tens of thousands of Californians leaving the state with bachelor degrees and above, while tens of thousands enter without high-school diplomas?"

http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/thoughts-on-the-therapeutic-style/

[Vaevictis]

(...) not to mention the 3.1 can't compete with the other folks who kept their 3.6 out there who didn't have to give up their GPA.

Nonsense. People quickly figure out that students from that district have their GPA reallocated and adjust for it.

For example, it takes a 3.5 GPA to get on the Dean's Honor Roll in the College of Arts and Sciences, and only a 3.0 in the College of Engineering. Why? Because anyone with any sense knows that, on average, it's easier to maintain a high GPA in the College of Arts and Sciences than it is in the College of Engineering.

[Vaevictis]

Not to mention the fact that the student with the better education will show up at college and not get kicked in the balls as hard by the transition.

Like I said, anyone who thinks GPA is the fruit of education is missing the point.

Last semester, I took a graduate mathematics course on the mathematical theory underlying the discipline of finance. The majority of my competition in this class was comprised of candidates for a mathematics PhD. I busted my arse and got a B.

My peers in the MBA program, however, took a bunch of graduate business courses. Many of these courses were laughable in difficulty -- all of them were compared to the math course I took -- and most of them got an A.

My peers got the better GPA. But I'll take the B any day, because I got the better education.

[badger]

Here's an example!

An unwed welfare mother (http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/community/bellflower-octuplets-blacklash/)already has six kids and declared bankrupcy and now lives with her parents. She personally decides to have eight more kids with frozen embryos she stored away.

Because of her personal decision to have more kids that she cannot afford, the burden will now lie on everyone else that can afford it to pay for her personal decision to have 14 kids that she can ill afford to take care of, let alone have the resources to educate and raise them.

SOCIALISM!

[I Am Right]

I like this lesson better, for older kids.

Say your kid has a 3.6 GPA. Say there is a kid in her math class who only has a 1.8 GPA and may not graduate. Tell your kid, in order to provide for this unfortunate kid with the lowly GPA, you're taking .5 away from her and giving it to the other kid, raising his GPA to 2.3 and lowering hers to 3.1.

Its only fair, and she didn't really need those extra tenths. In fact, it would be greedy and mean to hang on to those five tenths, when they are desperately needed by the other kid. Besides, the other kid will now graduate and have a shot at a decent life.:D

Good Job Homey, however to most liberals they only uinderstand short sound bites.

[I Am Right]

I remember hearing this one when I was a teenager. It has so many glaring faults that I literally laughed in the face of the kid who told it to me.

The "you're going to have to give people your toys" (or, part of your allowance, paycheck, whatever) is much more appropriate because those things are actually zero-sum, unlike GPA :)

Typical liberial spin, missed the point, ITS MY STUFF, NOT YOURS. What does zero-sum mean to you? Remeber it is not the governments money.

[badger]

Remeber it is not the governments money.

I am Right, you are wrong :P

The American Dollar is only worth a dollar because the government says so. It is no longer gold-backed or have any value behind it other than what the government dictates. Thus, it's the government's money. However, for the time being, it can still be exchanged for more tangible wealth with worldwide appeal, like oil.

[SoonerProphet]

Can the OP give us some working framework of how he defines socialism...that way people won't be accused of "spinning". That is of course unless he is a Weekly Standard conservative and loves him some of that big government conservatism. I guess as long as it "spins" his way he is cool with it.

[LosAngelesSooner]

Just teach them socialism by showing how well it works all over the world.Just out of curiosity, are you trying to say that CALIFORNIA is Socialist?

TIA

[Vaevictis]

Typical liberial spin, missed the point, ITS MY STUFF, NOT YOURS.

Nope, I got the point. I'm just pointing out the GPA analogy is bunk, because, well, it is.


What does zero-sum mean to you?

How many meanings can zero-sum have?


Remeber it is not the governments money.

That depends on the law, doesn't it?


Of course, the problem with free market ideologues is that they forget that, on a fundamental level, Karl Marx was ****ing right about part of his theory. His vision of communism was wrong, as people are just too flawed to make it work. But that part about poor folks being willing to take your "STUFF" by force if they get desperate enough? Dead on.

Light socialistic elements are a politically stabilizing force. So are "mostly" market systems. The closer you get to pure versions of either, though, the more dangerous it gets.

While you're at it, you might want to teach your kids about concentration of wealth in France in the late 1700's and in Russia in the early 1900's and how that turned out.

[JohnnyMack]

While you're at it, you might want to teach your kids about concentration of wealth in France in the late 1700's and in Russia in the early 1900's and how that turned out.

Look down, look down, don't look 'em in the eye...

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

I remember hearing this one when I was a teenager. It has so many glaring faults that I literally laughed in the face of the kid who told it to me.

The "you're going to have to give people your toys" (or, part of your allowance, paycheck, whatever) is much more appropriate because those things are actually zero-sum, unlike GPA :)It's the coercion part, champ. The obligatory nature, vs volunteered.

[Vaevictis]

And nobody would give a **** if it wasn't zero-sum. Which, like I said, GPA isn't.

[Chuck Bao]

I'm enjoying this discussion.

I don't have kids. But if I did, I'd totally sign on to this important life lesson discussion.

Me: Junior, do you know why you are getting these gifts and ride around in a new SUV and live in this two-storey brick house? It's called being a winner.

Junior: Whatever. Don't mess up my stuff and I'm kinda busy here (thumbing text message).

Me: Do you realize that some of your friends aren't really as well off as we are and that's because their old man is a bit of a loser.

Junior: Whatever. (keeps thumbing text message)

Me: If we gave all your toys away, that'd be socialism. That's where this country is heading.

Junior: Whatever. (keeps thumbing text message)

[badger]

Bao illustrates a good point. If we truly want to indoctrinate our kids into the anti-socialism experiment, no more gift giving, because after all, that's just transferring wealth the kiddos didn't earn from the parents who did earn it.

Chuck Bao: Junior, you are no longer in possession of your new SUV and have been placed in the garage instead of that bedroom we used to let you use rent-free. Do you know why?

Junior: Because I hate you guys forever and I wish I'd never been born? TEEN ANGST! TEEN ANGST!

Bao: No, junior, it's because I'm trying to teach you the importance of being against socialism. You being a student doesn't earn any money, while my job of being... (no idea what your profession is... so... I will make one up) ... a taco vendor (sorry in advance) does make income, which buys my two-story home and my new SUV on credit and a 30-year-mortgage.

Junior: Go away.

Bao: You see, you didn't earn the bedroom or the SUV, so to just give you those things would be rather socialist of me. Thus, I am driving the SUV and renting out the bedroom to paying tenants.

Junior: So I'm gonna go ahead and stop doing my homework and never go to school again and just rot out here in my teen angst spirit.

Bao: Just remember that some of your friends weren't as well off as you thought you used to be and some still aren't... I should probably kick you out of the garage and make you sleep on the sidewalk out front to further illustrate my point.

Junior: H8 U. LSR.

Bao: Oh, I see you responded to my comments via text message. That phone is mine too, paid for with my taco vending income. I will just take that from you now...

:D

[yermom]

Can the OP give us some working framework of how he defines socialism...that way people won't be accused of "spinning". That is of course unless he is a Weekly Standard conservative and loves him some of that big government conservatism. I guess as long as it "spins" his way he is cool with it.

if you voted "D" or disagree with him you are a Socialist

[landrun]

....
So don't confuse personal family dynamics with a system intended for governing a society. If you all are trying to make some kind of analogy connecting the two, fine. I just think it s ucks.

Right. The analogy doesn't apply.

[NYC Poke]

Taco vending sounds pretty lucrative.

[A Sooner in Texas]

Taco vending is making me hungry. Who wants to give me one of their tacos?:D

[My Opinion Matters]

Are people actually having a real discussion over this garbage? Or is this just another example of everyone on the SO being highly ironic?

[Curly Bill]

Are people actually having a real discussion over this garbage? Or is this just another example of everyone on the SO being highly ironic?

I find a lot of the people on the SO to be highly moronic. :D

[Curly Bill]

Taco vending is making me hungry. Who wants to give me one of their tacos?:D

You socialist bastage!

Make your own tacos! :P

[bonkuba]

isn't welfare a variation of socialism??

or is it actually socialism??

what about bankruptcy?

just a thought.


Welfare....hmmmm.....well one of my sore spots (have many...haha!). If you don't work...why should I pay for you to exist? Get a job....:D

Bankruptcy, I hate this with all that is bad in the world. I have had more than one company declare bankruptcy to one of more of my stores and I am left with.....well nothing. The bastages get off without paying me a dime (in most cases). I would at least like to haunt them the rest of their life and have them pay me through forced labor, etc (I kid...but just a little).

Anyway.....get a job and pay your bills (especially if you owe me). :D

[bonkuba]

You socialist bastage!

Make your own tacos! :P


mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....tacos.:)

[Curly Bill]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....tacos.:)

Yay tacos! Hey POTUS Obama, where the **** are my free tacos? :texan:

[LosAngelesSooner]

Just out of curiosity, are you trying to say that CALIFORNIA is Socialist?

TIAYeah, Tuba. I didn't really expect you to respond. You just like to say really, really stupid things and then run away. :rolleyes:

[GrapevineSooner]

I like this lesson better, for older kids.

Say your kid has a 3.6 GPA. Say there is a kid in her math class who only has a 1.8 GPA and may not graduate. Tell your kid, in order to provide for this unfortunate kid with the lowly GPA, you're taking .5 away from her and giving it to the other kid, raising his GPA to 2.3 and lowering hers to 3.1.

Its only fair, and she didn't really need those extra tenths. In fact, it would be greedy and mean to hang on to those five tenths, when they are desperately needed by the other kid. Besides, the other kid will now graduate and have a shot at a decent life.:D

Or force your state's biggest university to accept all applicants from the top 10% of every high school, regardless of how low a particular high schools' test scores are...all in the name of diversity.

Like what UT does here in Texas.

[tommieharris91]

This thread makes me want to go on welfare. :D

[Curly Bill]

This thread makes me want to go on welfare. :D

Soon enough it may well be the place to be.

[AggieTool]

IBTL