Grading Test Scores As Analogy For Effects Of Capitalism & Socialism (2 Versions)

[KittyWampus]

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student, but had once failed an entire class.

The class (students) insisted that socialism worked since 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 will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade."

After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who had studied hard were upset while the students who had studied very little were happy.

But, as the second test rolled around, the students who had studied little studied even less and the ones who had studied hard decided that since they couldn't make an A, they also studied less. The second test average was a D.

No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average grade was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling, all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for anyone else.

To their great surprise all failed. The professor told them that socialism would ultimately fail because the harder people try to succeed the greater their reward (capitalism) but when a government takes all the reward away (socialism) no one will try or succeed.

................................................

An economics professor at Yale SOM was said to have never failed a single student.

At the end of one semester, he told the class that 1 A, 4 Bs, 10 Cs, 10 Ds, and 75Fs would be assigned.

The students were outraged: most of them had worked hard, and yet most of them would receive a failing grade.

The professor then explained the grades were on paper slips in a bucket by the lectern, and each student would be given a baseball ball, and could act as he wished.

An hour later, 20 students stood by the lectern, and although a little bloody, congratulated each other and praised the merit-based grading system.

[LynnTheDem]

1. Nice strawman of an analogy.

Which of course is why the rightwingnuts use it so often.

[Winterblues]

2. If that socialist class had Bush* in it the F would have been redone

to stand for Freedom. The more Freedom the kids had the more Fs they would get. Everyone would then celebrate and still be smarter than the average Republican Union worker.