A nice/funny story...Anonymous
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 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 a 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 the 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 towards her degree. She played while
I've worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican
party."
posted by Audreaming @ 3:35 PM
1 Comments:
A nice anecdote, but a little misleading. In your story, the girl and her friend are presumably starting off on equal footing and with equal opportunities. Audrey chooses to go out and party, etc., and I would agree that she ought to accept whatever consequences that brings. However, in a society, we do not all start off on equal footing. Most notably, the average Mexican American or African American-- or any woman for that matter-- no matter how hard they work, will never gain the same wealth and power as their white male counterparts.
Another note: one student cannot use her high GPA to keep another's GPA down. Those with money and power, however, have the incentive and capability of keeping those without, staying without.
I don't entirely disagree with your point, but the analogy is inaccurate.
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