
Does socialism work? A classroom experiment - wolfgke
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/646/does_socialism_work_a_classroom_experiment
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tim333
What a rubbish article - there was no experiment - it's a right wing parable
misrepresenting reality.

> That class had insisted that Obama’s socialism worked and that no one would
> be poor and no one would be rich

As if that was even a thing.

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externalreality
The article describes something more akin to communism than socialism.
Socialism and capitalism are not mutually exclusive . The (fictitious)
professor's class room already ran much like the United States does before the
(fictitious) experiment, that is, everyone is guaranteed at least the same
lesson (socialism) and what you do with that lesson to benefit yourself is up
to you (capitalism).

In reality and to follow the articles misguided analogy, most top universities
curve (inflate) student grades much like the United States' overly capitalist
system has established what is akin to corporate well-fair. In fact the U.S
has gotten to the point where the only entities with rights are businesses and
the wealthy - if you want rights and well-fair in the U.S. start a business
its the only way. This is evidenced by the fact that only 2% of civilian legal
issues in the U.S. ever see trial or legal mediation while the majority of all
business legal situation get the full attention of the judiciary system.

More social programs in the U.S. in the U.S. apply to businesses not people.

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tim333
I was thinking not even the hardline communist countries gave students the
same result in exams.

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josh_fyi
Huh? Top universities have severe grade inflation, which is close to what is
described here. And grads of these universities still rule the world.
[http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/3/grade-
inflation-...](http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/3/grade-inflation-
mode-a/)

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xt00
Pretty simplistic because obviously this is an extreme case to average all
scores. But if you took 10% of the top score and added to the bottom scores
it's more like a tax and the people at the top probably don't mind as much. I
think when it comes to things like universal basic income, the idea to pay
people directly implies that there is a base level of money that results in
people being somewhat satisfied. But in reality I don't think it would ever.
In Seattle where I live, some homeless people live in tents below the freeway
near downtown because that is the only place they can afford within the area
they want to be at. So if they had a basic income that allowed them to afford
a house 30 miles from downtown would they live there? Good chance some would
but some would not. Basically socialism only works if people think they are
getting a good deal. That's how most people feel in countries like Sweden.
They feel like they have a really nice country and really nice doctors and
schools and services. The taxes are high on the rich but even the rich are not
complaining too much. I think capitalism is a good way to motivate people but
it's kind of like a game theory thing.. Basically you have to come up with a
way to benefit the group in order to help yourself. The lone rich guy might
actually not be rich for long if the mob comes and takes it away.

The discussion about the middle class disappearing I think is code for "jobs
that used to pay really well for doing not that hard of jobs are going away"..
Like in an era when robots can move pallets back and forth in a warehouse 24/7
should a forklift driver make $30/hr? The basic point is that jobs that are
easy to replace either with a robot, a foreign worker, or less people we
should expect there will be less of them. So training our workforce needs to
be tailored to suit that reality.

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neilwilson
"Pretty simplistic because obviously this is an extreme case to average all
scores."

It's simplistic because it assumes all that motivates people are scores and
counters. In other words money.

Psychology shows that isn't the case. The very existence of open source
software shows that isn't the case. I'm not sat here with an Elm program
because I'm looking to get an A. I'm enjoying the act of creation.

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neilwilson
The experiment should be to see how many logical fallacies you can find in
this very silly response.

zero sum thinking is just the first.

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bobbytherobot
Clearly, this story is fictional. Let's say it is truthful. Then let's simply
examining the very first sentence: "An economics professor at a local college
made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had
recently failed an entire class."

How did he never fail a single student before?

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lucideer
How did something this intellectually bereft make it onto HN?

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tim333
Guess you can submit anything and seven people have upvoted, quite likely of a
certain political persuasion. It didn't really seem significant enough to even
bother flagging though I guess you could.

