In an earlier blog entry that many of you responded to, I posted some student thoughts on NFL quarterback, Joe Montana - and his $49 million home. It was clear, from the writings of many of my students, that Socialism is alive and well in America.
Out of pure morbid curiosity, I decided to find out in my summer class, if Communism might also be the favored solution to our nation's problems. So, I played a dirty trick on my students. Here is what they were asked to read and comment on:
__________
This month Congress will vote on the 2010 Equity and Economic Security Act. Below are five of the Act's major provisions. Please read over each of them and then write a short essay explaining whether or not these provisions will help bring about greater economic equality and security for the United States.
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
5. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
__________
Of course, as all of you know, these five provisions come directly from The Communist Manifesto written by Messrs. Marx and Engels. There is no such Act (yet). I basically lied to everyone to flush out the Marxists among us.
Brace yourself.
25% of my students were in agreement with parts of, or all of this "Act." Here are some their comments - unedited for grammar or spelling.
"I think this program will bring greater economic quality because each of these points will bring comfort and benefits to the citizens. I think this program will bring a security in economy that will be a benefit to everyone. These program mentioned talk about abolition of things that citizens in the past will like to eliminate, also give a lot of benefits to the public like centralization of communication and transport. I think every single part is a benefit to almost every citizen."
"The only thing the government should possibly implement would be point 5: Centralization of the means of communication and transport in hands of the State."
"I have also been a victim of the corruption of lenders and credit companies, scams, and seen the economic hardships. Therefore, I do feel that this Act will bring about some much needed direction, organization and reconstruction to our much needed economy."
"As we all know the economy was very affected by the property and territory sales. This problem really impacted most of the population, so I think that if Congress get control over this it could absolutely help our economic crisis. Banks were basically one of the central points why economy was so devastated this year. By centralizing the credict in the hands of the state it will possibly regulate and balance the economy."
"I feel that a combination of those changes would result in greater economic equality."
"Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes could, in my opinion, possibly help out the economy. Abolition of all right of inheritance would help out the security our economy.
_________
There you have it my friends....or should I say comrades?
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ReplyDeleteOh. My. God.
"The only thing the government should possibly implement would be point 5: Centralization of the means of communication and transport in hands of the State."
ReplyDeleteNumber five? Seriously...? ..I guess someone wants a brick phone from the 80s :P
I am from the 80s. The phones were rotary dial and made of mud and straw. You should know that I have told the class that their Communist souls can still be saved.
ReplyDeleteCentralization of credit with exclusive monopoly means high (very high) interest rates. Who can tell the government how to set their prices? Centralization of means of communication and transport allows for better government control over their citizens, and abolition of property rights in land will lead to abolition of all property rights. Will these bring economic equality? Of course, they will - everyone will be equally poor and under a heavy government control. How can any government control poor people with no property and no place to go for help? Only by creating a military State that will grow into a dictatorship in a very short time. Is that what we really want here in the U.S.?
ReplyDeleteProfessor Chambless,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a student of yours, almost 13 years ago, I have to admit that I was unaware of MANY things. Your class made me start to think. Today, at the age of 42, I have finally gotten over many former misconceptions. I hope the current students realization these problems sooner than later.
Is communism/socialism good for this country? Absolutely NOT. Is the need to educate our population good for this country? Yes, but how many will listen to it. Some people lIKE being taken care of. These people do not believe that everything should be according to how we perform as individuals.
My favorite question of anyone is "Should we penalize a man like Bill Gates because he (along with a few others) came up with an idea that changed the world?" Bill Gates came up with the supply and created a demand.
This simple concept is one of the hardest to explain to anyone.
That is scary. I'm glad these students can be saved, but how will you reach the rest of the country?
ReplyDeleteJason
ReplyDeleteI am not sure how to reach the whole country. Do you have a radio or t.v. gig you want to offer me? I do still speak in public (will be speaking to hundreds of folks this Memorial Day weekend at the Florida Home School convention, for example). Other than that, my newspaper columns and other things that come up that is really all I can do. My hope - and dare I say expectation - is that you and others I have taught will help pick up the mantle of liberty and talk to as many people as possible.
Yikes! Upon reading this wondrous blog, I started to receive heart palpitations and severe shortness of breath that have still not yet subsided.
ReplyDeleteThis can be cured by a 2-step process that is pretty simple. First, anyone who answered remotely close to what was provided in the sample needs to listen EXTRA close during class and take the best notes ever. Through Professor Chambless's classes he has taught many a student how to utilize their brains to the utmost and how every single decision made is deeply set in Economics. Second, and this obviously is not as important as the first item, but, take a bit more care when submitting something in class in regards to grammar... Perhaps a bit more proofreading before the send-in?
I guess the upside is that at least it was only 25% of your students. I shudder to imagine what that percentage would be in an equivalent Rollins College Econ class. It's very unfortunate that the ISM train (Marxism/Fascism/Socialism/Corporatism) is picking up so many unprepared minds and twisting them to shunt more power and control into such an out-of-control Federal government.
ReplyDeleteWe can make a difference, one person at a time, by preparing the minds of those we care about to see through the good-intentioned veils of the ISM mafia.
Thanks Jack for the blog and all that you do to free the ones who will listen and begin to think for themselves!
Thanks, Jason - I know you are doing your part as well. Maybe we will end up at capitalISM some day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting these, Jack. I always get a kick out of reading the students' responses.
ReplyDeleteEven though 25% of the class "agreed" with the Communist Manifesto, I don't think we have the beginnings of a Communist uprising on our hands. In fact, after reading the responses, I'm confident that Capitalism has prevailed once again.
The students are pursuing their own self-interest. Since they were graded on the basis of simply providing a response, there was no incentive for the students to throughly examine the questions in front of them.
If the outcome for them is the same, regardless of the opinion expressed, then they chose the optimal response; the one they could write easiest.
I knew what you were up to after reading the first line. My "short essay" would have simply said..."Communism was tried and failed." You have some really clueless students in your classes. How do you deal?
ReplyDeleteEasy to make fun of students, but I wouldn't blame them. That's what they've been taught for 12+ years by people whose guarantied pay and lavish benefits depend on enough people believing in communist principles.
ReplyDeleteGood luck trying to undo all the harm that's been done!