Father - Daughter Talk
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, 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 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 need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors just 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, 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 father asked her, "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 Audrey, 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's played while I worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked, and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican Party."
Now here's my point in quoting this:
If you fully agree with one of these, but fully disagree with the other, then you are an extremist asshole. You are part of the problems this country faces, rather than a solution.
But if you can see some truth and merit in both of them, even if you agree with one more than the other, then I figure you to be someone capable of independent thought, whatever your education level may be.
That's all I was thinking about with this.
3 comments:
That's a really clever and simple piece, B.
You know I lean the other way, but this is one of the best arguments I've *ever* read for the conservative viewpoint.
See this is why it's so great to have you comment. You don't just automatically assume something is good because it agrees with some ideology. You evaluate and make up your own mind.
I really don't see how anyone can be offended by or completely disagree with either parable. Yet, you should have seen the anger this one generated in the Daily Kos!
Yeah, well Daily Kos is just painful. I'll go there if someone links something interesting, but I can't spend time there. As bad as Little Green Footballs for me.
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