Capitalism vs.Socialism. A classroom counter-experiment
I saw someone repost this tired parable a while ago. General gist is a professor offers to replace the grading scheme with a "socialist" grading scheme, where all grades are averaged. Because according to right wing philosophy, everybody is awful, everybody else freeloads on the hard workers and eventually nobody bothers.
Nobody considers the parallel situation. One where the marking scheme is based on more of a right wing viewpoint.
The professor decides to return to the existing scheme. Of course, in this university, your grade is not based on the work you did. It's also based on the work your father did. If your father went to university, your grade is averaged with that of your father. It's only fair. If you work hard, your children should reap the benefits.If your father didn't go to university, then no worries. You can still pass. Your grade is averaged with 0% but hard work will get you there.
It did mean that you needed several generations of hard work to get the 70% needed for a first, but this was an established institution. Some students had those generations behind them.
Some people were unhappy. Those students without a parental legacy complained. They could only get a third, and that's if they work exceptionally hard. Meanwhile, those with generations of graduates can cruise along, and be practically guaranteed a 2:2. A token amount of work will push that higher.
The faculty dismissed these objections of course. They had all worked hard, as had their parents and grandparents. They had been doing it this way for generations. How could it possibly be unfair? Just because some people could do literally no work, and get the same grade as someone who had worked their butt off, did this mean there was a problem? Of course not!
Ultimately reductionism can make any idea sound ridiculous. The original was nothing like socialism, and certainly nowhere near the social reforms that any modern democracy wants. And the suggestion above, while it has parallels to the unfairness of market capitalism and inherited wealth is also a ridiculous oversimplification. Parables aren't reality. They're just stories.
This entry was originally posted at https://luckykaa.dreamwidth.org/640157.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Nobody considers the parallel situation. One where the marking scheme is based on more of a right wing viewpoint.
The professor decides to return to the existing scheme. Of course, in this university, your grade is not based on the work you did. It's also based on the work your father did. If your father went to university, your grade is averaged with that of your father. It's only fair. If you work hard, your children should reap the benefits.If your father didn't go to university, then no worries. You can still pass. Your grade is averaged with 0% but hard work will get you there.
It did mean that you needed several generations of hard work to get the 70% needed for a first, but this was an established institution. Some students had those generations behind them.
Some people were unhappy. Those students without a parental legacy complained. They could only get a third, and that's if they work exceptionally hard. Meanwhile, those with generations of graduates can cruise along, and be practically guaranteed a 2:2. A token amount of work will push that higher.
The faculty dismissed these objections of course. They had all worked hard, as had their parents and grandparents. They had been doing it this way for generations. How could it possibly be unfair? Just because some people could do literally no work, and get the same grade as someone who had worked their butt off, did this mean there was a problem? Of course not!
Ultimately reductionism can make any idea sound ridiculous. The original was nothing like socialism, and certainly nowhere near the social reforms that any modern democracy wants. And the suggestion above, while it has parallels to the unfairness of market capitalism and inherited wealth is also a ridiculous oversimplification. Parables aren't reality. They're just stories.
This entry was originally posted at https://luckykaa.dreamwidth.org/640157.html. Please comment there using OpenID.