Got a crazy forwarded political email from your family? Post them here.

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Foyes36: Oct 23, 2005; Food fight!

f#a# posted:

I just don't know what to say really. That link about the how 40% of women are using birth control for noncontraceptive use and how Fluke's $3000 was spread over three years are good starts, but drat. I mean, his point in the second paragraph is valid, right? How can I respond to that?

Is your brother a medical doctor? A scientist? No? Then tell him to shut the gently caress up about poo poo he doesn't know about when it comes to the uses of hormonal birth control. What a loving moron.

Medicine isn't liberal or conservative, it just fuckin' is goddamnit that pisses me off so much I didn't even bother to read the rest of his bullshit. I hope nobody is loving him, or ever will be.

Foyes36 fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Mar 4, 2012

# ? Mar 4, 2012 16:04

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 19:39

Walter: Jul 3, 2003; We think they're great. In a grand, mystical, neopolitical sense, these guys have a real message in their music. They don't, however, have neat names like me and Bono.

I really think more folks should be pointing out that this is *not* a discussion about taxpayer-funded anything.

Every time some moron starts talking about having to pay for someone's contraception, remind them that this is about having someone's private insurance policy cover a common medical need - contraception - without some bullshit "religious exemption" that infringes on peoples' rights in the name of "religious freedom." This does not mean they're asking for free contraception.

They already pay for their damned insurance, for gently caress's sake.

Why is this hard to understand? Do these people just see "government" and have a knee-jerk "my tax dollars" response?

# ? Mar 4, 2012 16:13

apropos to nothing: Sep 5, 2003

Pfirti86 posted:

Is your brother a medical doctor? A scientist? No? Then tell him to shut the gently caress up about poo poo he doesn't know about when it comes to the uses of hormonal birth control. What a loving moron.

Medicine isn't liberal or conservative, it just fuckin' is goddamnit that pisses me off so much I didn't even bother to read the rest of his bullshit. I hope nobody is loving him, or ever will be.

This pisses me off to no end. I have gotten in arguments before with people because I dared to claim that addiction to alcohol, tobacco or illicit drugs is a disease. Never mind the fact that I'm a nurse and deal with drug addicts on a regular basis, never mind the fact that I teach nursing to nursing students and when we cover mental health we talk specifically about how addiction is a disease and never mind the fact that the DSM IV classifies addiction as a disease. Nope none of that matters because it's obviously a choice and they could easily choose not to do drugs.

Honestly I sometimes think that humans are pre-programmed to believe at least one ludicrous and insane thing. I know loving nurses and doctors who won't get their children vaccinated because they are afraid they'll get autism :pseudo:

# ? Mar 4, 2012 16:47

Iceberg-Slim: Oct 7, 2003; no re okay

Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

# ? Mar 4, 2012 18:35

Riptor: Apr 13, 2003; here's to feelin' good all the time

quote:

Last I heard, birth control pills had horrible effects on most women. I know a few women who avoid them completely due to their effects on hormones.

Oh well we certainly wouldn't want birth control to have effect on hormones :wtf:

# ? Mar 4, 2012 19:18

Jeseuss: Aug 28, 2007

quote:

THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten
comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like
this...

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing
The fifth would pay $1
The sixth would pay $3
The seventh would pay $7
The eighth would pay $12
The ninth would pay $18
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. "Since you
are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your
daily beer by $20". Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what
about the other six men ? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that
everyone would get his fair share?

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that
from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end
up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill
by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to allow the principle of the tax
system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he
suggested that each should now pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).

The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off than before, and the first four continued to
drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their
savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," declared the sixth man. He
pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar too.
It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back, when I
got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get
anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine sat down
and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they
discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of
them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our
tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will
naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much,
attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In
fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat
friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible

I got this doozy from my dad this morning.

# ? Mar 4, 2012 21:14

Dr. Arbitrary: Mar 15, 2006; Bleak Gremlin

quote:

Tax them too much,
attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In
fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat
friendlier.

Love it or leave it fuckers. Have fun trying to ship a factory over to your tax haven via private jet.

# ? Mar 4, 2012 21:52

DarkHorse: Dec 13, 2006; Nap Ghost

There are so many problems with that analogy it's hard to know where to start.

For example, they're presumably using beer in place of income, and the representative rates for taxation for the latter in terms of splitting the bill. But that's idiotic, because A) You're using consumption as an analogy for income, which doesn't work, and B) they're implying that each person in the group gets an equal share of the beer available, i.e. 10% of the population has 10% of the ~~beer~~ benefits of taxation, which is manifestly untrue.

Second, using this taxation analogy, it's clear that they're only talking about federal income taxes what with 40% not paying anything. In the world of the parable, it wouldn't be accounting for the bus ticket the poorest members would have to pay, or the door charge, or paying some money for a dinner jacket to be presentable, etc. I of course mean the state, sales, property, and other miscellaneous taxes that the poorest members are still paying anyway.

Third, their analysis is stupid as hell as soon as you hit

quote:

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what
about the other six men ? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that
everyone would get his fair share?

... and just gets more idiotic from there. The first part reminds me of the Missing Dollar Riddle, while later parts have a weird use of percentages and savings to obfuscate the issue.

There's more I could elaborate on, but I'm feeling the bile rise in my throat.

# ? Mar 4, 2012 22:07

Orange Devil: Oct 1, 2010; Wullie's reign cannae smother the flames o' equality!

We've been over that analogy multiple times in this thread, including one time pretty drat in depth to the point where we made a GBS thread explaining how progressive income taxation works, and why.

# ? Mar 4, 2012 22:11

ts12: Jul 24, 2007

Jeseuss posted:

I got this doozy from my dad this morning.

I think this email predates the concept of taxation itself

ts12 fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Mar 4, 2012

# ? Mar 4, 2012 22:34

Dr Christmas: Apr 24, 2010; Berninating the one percent,
Berninating the Wall St.
Berninating all the people
In their high rise penthouses!
🔥😱🔥🔫👴🏻

Jeseuss posted:

I got this doozy from my dad this morning.

To be more accurate, the richest man would be getting an awesome imported beer, the middle class getting some macrobrewery swill, while the poorer men would get to huff the alchohol fumes from the rich man's breath.

Also, I don't know where the rich guy getting beat up comes from. If anything, the rich guy would be paying the middle guys to beat up the poor guys.

# ? Mar 4, 2012 22:39

Exercu: Dec 7, 2009; EAT WELL, SLEEP WELL, SHIT WELL! THERE'S YOUR ANSWER!!

Dr Christmas posted:

To be more accurate, the richest man would be getting an awesome imported beer, the middle class getting some macrobrewery swill, while the poorer men would get to huff the alchohol fumes from the rich man's breath.

Also, I don't know where the rich guy getting beat up comes from. If anything, the rich guy would be paying the middle guys to beat up the poor guys.

Considering the american political climate, it's even worse. The rich guy and the middle guys would probably convince the poor guys that it's the poorest of them that's siphoning their beer.

# ? Mar 4, 2012 23:18

Taerkar: Dec 7, 2002; kind of into it, really

Dr Christmas posted:

To be more accurate, the richest man would be getting an awesome imported beer, the middle class getting some macrobrewery swill, while the poorer men would get to huff the alchohol fumes from the rich man's breath.

Also, I don't know where the rich guy getting beat up comes from. If anything, the rich guy would be paying the middle guys to beat up the poor guys.

Yeah, the lowest group wouldn't even get 50 cent beer. Natty Ice is middle class.

# ? Mar 5, 2012 01:41

Frog Act: Feb 10, 2012

I work at a pharmacy in the middle of a pretty lovely neighborhood and, from behind the counter, Natural Ice is like the freakin' banner of the systemically hosed proletariat. I spend at least thirty minutes every shift making new six packs because old/disabled/chronically unemployed folk buy a six pack every few hours with loose change.

I'm obviously not passing judgement w/r/t the folks buying it. To me, though, when I think "legit repressed underclass" I reflexively heavily associate it with high-alcohol content cheap beer which places like my little horrible corporate branch make extra effort to stock.

# ? Mar 5, 2012 01:45

Nelson Mandingo: Mar 27, 2005

quote:

Tax them too much,
attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In
fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat
friendlier.

Why should we care that rich people live in the United States? If they all started leaving, new, slightly less rich people would just take their place.

Also they'd be able to influence U.S. policy far less effectively. U.S. policy is the one thing that's helping them stay rich. So hey I'm actually completely down with this.

# ? Mar 5, 2012 01:51

Taerkar: Dec 7, 2002; kind of into it, really

It's better in Somalia!

And I wasn't referring to Natty Ice being a middle class beer but rather that even it's too good for the lowest % of this country if that terrible thing included beer quality.

# ? Mar 5, 2012 02:00

redmercer: Sep 15, 2011; by Fistgrrl

Dr Christmas posted:

while the poorer men would get to huff the alchohol fumes from the rich man's breath.

Wrong end but otherwise accurate

# ? Mar 5, 2012 03:01

Arglebargle III: Feb 21, 2006

Countblanc posted:

Well I guess I meant I don't see the logic behind it. Like I understand random old dudes who go to church three times a week saying that volatile poo poo, but when I hear college classmates saying it I'm just at a loss. Isn't that like the exact time in your life you want to encourage women to be having more sex?

I would bet a lot of money that not getting laid and being anti-sex correlate strongly.

# ? Mar 5, 2012 04:08

Guilty: May 3, 2003; Ask me about how people having a bad reaction to MSG makes them racist, because I've never heard of gluten sensitivity

Fandyien posted:

I work at a pharmacy in the middle of a pretty lovely neighborhood and, from behind the counter, Natural Ice is like the freakin' banner of the systemically hosed proletariat. I spend at least thirty minutes every shift making new six packs because old/disabled/chronically unemployed folk buy a six pack every few hours with loose change.

I'm obviously not passing judgement w/r/t the folks buying it. To me, though, when I think "legit repressed underclass" I reflexively heavily associate it with high-alcohol content cheap beer which places like my little horrible corporate branch make extra effort to stock.

It's like 4.2%, it's not even that high content. A Coronoa has more alcohol content per volume.

Cybernetic Vermin posted:

5.9% ABV, you may be thinking of Natural Light.

Oh whoops, sorry, my bad

Guilty fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Mar 5, 2012

# ? Mar 5, 2012 15:01

D1Sergo: May 5, 2006; Be sure to take a 15-minute break every hour.

This isn't a specific email per se, but the female half of my family is STILL livid over Hillary Clinton not being the nominee in 2008, one of whom so much so that she voted for McCain to support Palin, fell in with Ron Paul when Palin didn't pan out, all while continuing to insist that Hillary become president. She's the kind of person who used to get their news from FOX until we shamed her out of it, so instead watches CNN and reads Washington Post while complaining about the Obungler-in-Chief.

Soooo... any advice how to begin arguing with this clusterfuck? She is actually receptive to having her opinion changed, but I've got to figure out what Obama did that's so different from Hillary that made her snap, something about delegates at the primary and "Chicago Politics" but I can't find anything on the internet other than unsubstantiated bullshit.

D1Sergo fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Mar 5, 2012

# ? Mar 5, 2012 15:58

Cybernetic Vermin: Apr 18, 2005

Guilty posted:

It's like 4.2%, it's not even that high content. A Coronoa has more alcohol content per volume.

5.9% ABV, you may be thinking of Natural Light.

# ? Mar 5, 2012 16:09

RagnarokAngel: Oct 5, 2006; Black Magic Extraordinaire

I know this get's asked a lot, if we make a new thread the op should contain common rebuttals, but does someone have the rebuttal to the "Economics professor makes grades like socialism"? I know it involved the fact that money and resources are finite while grades arent, and that if you converted the wealth of the upper class they'd have something like 250 points (out of 100)

# ? Mar 5, 2012 16:15

zeroprime: Mar 25, 2006; Words go here.; Fun Shoe

Money is a system of exchange and grades are a system of measurement. They may as well try to say that since you wouldn't give 6 inches of your height to someone shorter than you, you shouldn't have to pay taxes. It's a stupid analogy that appeals to stupid people.

# ? Mar 5, 2012 16:37

Oxford Comma: Jun 26, 2011; Oxford Comma: Hey guys I want a cool big dog to show off! I want it to be ~special~ like Thor but more couch potato-like because I got babbies in the house!
Everybody: GET A LAB.
Oxford Comma: OK! (gets a a pit/catahoula mix)

Got this poo poo forwarded to me by someone who should know better. I...I don't even know where to begin.

quote:

BUCHANAN

TO

Obama

This appears accurate. Blacks are 12.9% of our population,but comprise about 40% of the federal work force whose average salary is $78,000 per year as compared to the general population's annual salary of about $42,000 per year. It is odd that no one writes about this great disparity.

BUCHANAN TO OBAMA

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America .. Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation.. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.... This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ' 60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants.Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude??

Barack talks about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks. Let him go to Altoona ? And Johnstown , and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids...? Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America ? Is it really white America 'S fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena . And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.

I am
Not racist,
Not violent,
Just not silent anymore

# ? Mar 6, 2012 01:32

myron cope: Apr 21, 2009

White people: a "silent" majority

# ? Mar 6, 2012 01:35

team overhead smash: Sep 2, 2006; Team-Forest-Tree-Dog:
Smashing your way into our hearts one skylight at a time

Oh god, googling for a Snopes link or something similar lead me to one of the worst sites I've ever seen.

http://www.fathersmanifesto.net
http://www.fathersmanifesto.net/pollblacks.htm

I hope this isn't old news because it has a ridiculous number of page views, but it is a whole mess of all different kinds of awful

# ? Mar 6, 2012 01:51

ants on my cum rag: Sep 2, 2011; "Oh God you got the spray gun, DO NOT LOSE IT, you seriously better not screw this up, I'm not kidding"
~~The Battle Hymn of the Contra Tiger Mother~~

Dr Christmas posted:

Let me just express impotent rage for the fact that a giant segment of American society claims to believe a religious figure who says "Help the poor or go to hell" more than anything else, and then make it their life's work to makes sure that people go without medicine for treatable conditions.

Seriously, I don't like those people, but in my most stupid indulgent revenge fantasy, I would never wish on them what they casually wish on every single person on Earth.

I just calm myself by indulging in a fantasy world where Jesus comes down to earth and personally lectures and ridicules each and every piece of poo poo who deviated from his original message. Plus, I also think there would be less Christians afterwards, as Christ would disown them for holding Reagan and The Constitution as sacrosanct.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 01:53

f#a#: Sep 6, 2004; I can't promise it will live up to the hype, but I tried my best.

Hey, guess who emailed me back!

brother posted:

Pretty sure these women who are having the pain can just buy OTC meds for $2 like Aleve that address these issues instead of $3k......

Anyways, yes I think Fluke comparing free contraceptives for women to women's rights to vote and other issues that women fought hard for is a disgrace to the Suffragette movement and those women. This is a non issue and is ridiculous.

"I agree that in an ideal world, the smart people would succeed." That's the way it already is. See Einstein and his long years working as a poor patent clerk in Vienna. Things like luck fit in, but you know, you can't control that w/ government. It's just life.

Just my opinions.

And Mom chimes in! She was CC'd on this entire debacle.

mom posted:

1) Women take medicine to control their hormones and prevent ovarian cysts among other things, not just to prevent pregnancy.
2) Women should have the opportunity to choose the most effective and safe medicine to treat their ailment.
3) The cost of health care has spiraled out of reach for average citizens.
4) The government is currently providing health care to senior citizen in the form of Medicare and Medicaid. If the government does nothing to control the spiraling costs, the U.S. Government will go broke. Do you really want to borrow or print more money to cover these expenses?

As a side note: [brother], can you stop using that slur about the young woman who testified before Congress? You might disagree with her, but it is inappropriate to use that particular adjective for women. It shows a lack of respect for women in general. Fair warning from your mom.

Having discussions like this that are abated by political rhetoric is a sensitive topic for me. I really believe it is more important to take care of one another than win a political contest.

Just being honest because I love you all and would like to make sure that we do not fall down the political rabbit hole.

His response:

brother posted:

Okay, she's a "lady of the night". Is that a better term for someone who spends 3000 a semester on birth control?

1. So you're arguing that birth control is not actually used for birth control. Hmm.
2. Right, they should, and government shouldn't be FORCING companies to pay for them.
3. Right, and with the job market getting worse, and more left plans like this going into effect, it's only going to get worse, and people are going to be able to afford less and less.
4. The government is going broke because it's spending too much money on nonsense such as Obama's recent 14 billion payoff to the unions that helped get him elected. I can't believe you guys support this crook. Another example is Bush's payoff to GM, a failed automotive company that should have been left to die off.

I'm done. Not responding any more. Totally done. There is no way to describe the weird concoction of ire and pity I now have for my brother and his distorted, ignorant world view.

f#a# fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Mar 6, 2012

# ? Mar 6, 2012 01:56

Nadir: Apr 12, 2003; It's only up from here

Oxford Comma posted:

Got this poo poo forwarded to me by someone who should know better. I...I don't even know where to begin.

I think that's the most racist chain letter I've ever seen. And I read this thread frequently

# ? Mar 6, 2012 01:57

Emy: Apr 21, 2009

Oxford Comma posted:

Got this poo poo forwarded to me by someone who should know better. I...I don't even know where to begin.

I'm not sure about the top part, which might have been a later addition, but it looks like the bottom segment of it is from an actual syndicated Pat Buchanan article circa March 2008. If you want a solid rebuttal to the email, responses to the original column might be a good place to start.

Uh, maybe also point out that following a bunch of racist stuff with "not racist" does not actually render the contents nonracist, and that by forwarding it without comment they are implicitly supporting the contents of the forward.

Edit: the original is called "A Brief for Whitey" and is exactly as racist as you're probably imagining.

Emy fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Mar 6, 2012

# ? Mar 6, 2012 02:05

Iceberg-Slim: Oct 7, 2003; no re okay

Your mom is awesome, your brother is beyond redemption.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 02:07

Push El Burrito: May 9, 2006; Soiled Meat

Nadir posted:

I think that's the most racist chain letter I've ever seen. And I read this thread frequently

Literally "black people should get on their knees and thank their superior white lords for bringing them over on slave ships."

# ? Mar 6, 2012 02:55

8bitAsplode: Sep 12, 2011

How about you ask your brother how he would feel if you were showing him calling Fluke a slut to other people online.

If it isn't that bad, then he shouldn't have a problem with it. And thus it's fine if every one of his female friends found out about it.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 03:06

Brennanite: Feb 14, 2009

f#a# posted:

Hey, guess who emailed me back!

And Mom chimes in! She was CC'd on this entire debacle.

His response:

I'm done. Not responding any more. Totally done. There is no way to describe the weird concoction of ire and pity I now have for my brother and his distorted, ignorant world view.

I can't believe your mom essentially told him to knock it off, and he counters with that mouthy missive. How old is your brother? He's lucky if she doesn't slap him upside the head at Easter dinner for pulling that crap.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 06:00

UltraPenguinX: Mar 23, 2009; TC: hOnK hOnK iM a MoThErFuCkInG sEaL :o)

I just saw this pop up on the Facebooks:

I'm having a hard time articulating exactly why it's a ridiculous comparison. I'm fairly certain the "government funded abortions!" part is just plain incorrect, but I'm afraid I don't know quite enough about the birth control issue to make a cogent argument.

I figured I'd post it here so at the very least you all can be on the watch for it / laugh heartily at it.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 06:57

Countblanc: Apr 20, 2005; _{Help a hero out!}

Just start by pointing out that the argument is that insurance companies (which you have already paid for) should also cover contraceptives, and there's no drain on the taxpayers. Hopefully they'll just be one of those crazy "my tax dollars!" people and shut up, instead of one of those "my tax dollars and also women are sluts!" people.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 07:47

Quabzor: Oct 17, 2010; My whole life just flashed before my eyes! Dude, I sleep a lot.

RagnarokAngel posted:

I know this get's asked a lot, if we make a new thread the op should contain common rebuttals, but does someone have the rebuttal to the "Economics professor makes grades like socialism"? I know it involved the fact that money and resources are finite while grades arent, and that if you converted the wealth of the upper class they'd have something like 250 points (out of 100)

I don't know if this is the one you were looking for but these may be acceptable, I know the one you're thinking of though and will probably keep looking for a while

ducttape posted:

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had almost never failed a single student before but had, once, failed almost an entire class. The class had insisted that capitalism worked and that no one would be poor and everyone would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on capitalism. After each test, students would be allowed to buy and sell grade points, so that each student would have an economic incentive to succeed.

After the first test, the trading began. Most of the class sold a couple of their points that they felt that they could afford, but almost everyone sold to Frank, who had spent the weekend visiting his parents asking for money, rather than studying. After the second test, Frank was joined by Daniel and Rachael. Adam, on the other hand, had had his hours cut back at work, and his mother couldn't afford to send any money, so he estimated how many points he would need to still pass the course, and sold the rest. By the time that the third test came around, everyone was already planning their point trades. However, much to their dismay, that test was significantly harder than the previous two. A quarter of the class hadn't even studied, under the assumption that they could buy a couple points if they needed. Only a couple of students ended up passing the class that semester. Adam lost his scholarship, and had to drop out of school. Daniel and Rachael both failed when neither of them could match Franks bids on the few points that were being sold. The professor told them that capitalism would ultimately fail because when gaming the system is more rewarding than improving it, people won't try to succeed.

Mo_Steel posted:

There are so many obvious lines of attack on this particular often reused parable (socialism is improperly used in the example, Obama has presented a mostly center-right administration particularly where economics is concerned, etc.), but the most obvious one is that the structure and distribution of grades is nowhere close to analogous to money.

To get a more apt example, you need to limit the amount of possible points available to the entire class. We'll set the student number at 100 for simplicity and the limit at 7,000 points per test so that if it was evenly distributed among all 100 students everyone would get a C on each 100 point test. Let's assume that the distribution of all points follows the current U.S. distribution of income. Here's how we end up:

Top 20: 4,137 points, average grade: A+ (206 points out of 100)
Second 20: 1,323 points, average grade: D (66 points out of 100)
Third 20: 812 points, average grade: F (41 points out of 100)
Fourth 20: 497 points, average grade: F (25 points out of 100)
Bottom 20: 245 points, average grade: F (12 points out of 100)

Congratulations, 3/5ths of the class flunked and 1/5th barely passed while 1/5th got more points than they will ever need to pass. None of this accounts for the amount of studying each quintile did by the way; some of the bottom 20 students worked their asses off doing 80 hours of studying just to scrape by with their 12 points each. Why did the top 20 do so well? They own the pencils and sharpeners and only agreed to let the other students use the pencils and sharpeners if they gave up some points to do so.

Welcome to capitalism.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 08:15

Choadmaster: Oct 7, 2004; I don't care how snug they fit, you're nuts!

Hypocrisy: Demanding that government officers stay out of your home and personal possessions while simultaneously demanding that they work to protect you and your stuff.

Having rights that protect you from government interference doesn't mean the government can't or shouldn't assist you at your discretion. The government works for the people, after all.

You could also take the taxpayer/government out of it altogether and still point out the stupidity of the argument:

Hypocrisy: Demanding that your boss stay out of your personal cancer treatment decisions whole simultaneously demanding that he pay for your healthcare.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 08:28

Arglebargle III: Feb 21, 2006

f#a# posted:

I'm done. Not responding any more. Totally done. There is no way to describe the weird concoction of ire and pity I now have for my brother and his distorted, ignorant world view.

This is kind of sad because he's clearly operating from a very warped understanding of the issue. He keeps mentioning "free birth control" when in fact birth control is covered under many prescription drug benefits that employers buy for their employees all the time. The prescription drug insurance is part of her compensation package. It's not free at all, she worked for it. This was entirely uncontroversial until the Catholic Church threw a shitfit about one of the drugs covered under the package they are legally required to buy, and suddenly there was a debate, lines were drawn, and lots of people discovered they hate women and sex after all.

Just tell him your view of the situation clearly without any wishy-washy language, like

quote:

You have some basic facts about this issue wrong. Your misunderstanding is leading you to conclusions that I and others in our family find reprehensible. There's a lot of distortion and propaganda about this issue right now. Here's what you have wrong:

I have a hard time condemning the average people who've just been lied to so consistently for so long that they don't even know where the ideas coming out of their mouths originated.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 12:05

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# ? May 25, 2024 19:39

zeroprime: Mar 25, 2006; Words go here.; Fun Shoe

f#a# posted:

His response:

brother posted:
Okay, she's a "lady of the night". Is that a better term for someone who spends 3000 a semester on birth control?

I'm done. Not responding any more. Totally done. There is no way to describe the weird concoction of ire and pity I now have for my brother and his distorted, ignorant world view.

I like how his claims just spiral further and further into the absurd. You should keep it up and see how long it goes until he claims Sandra Fluke (who wasn't even talking about herself) spends $3000 on condoms (when she was talking about hormonal birth control) every week because she fucks every guy on campus.

Pretend Arglebargle III and I are each 5 inches tall, standing on your shoulders, and whispering our advice into your ears.

zeroprime fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Mar 6, 2012

# ? Mar 6, 2012 15:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Got a crazy forwarded political email from your family? Post them here.

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