BACK WELFARE 6'1m*f RT: Coveting, government, rewards, equality (RT == Readers' Theater: requires little or no memorization, little or no rehearsal. An indefinite number of students are salted throughout the audience. Each student stands to deliver his lines.) PROFESSOR -- (enters carrying folder, crosses to podium, opens folder) Good morning. Welcome to Economics 101. I'm Professor Johnson and I will be teaching this course on the effects of government intervention in the economy. During this course you will be given fifteen mandatory homework assignments, fifteen mandatory quizzes, one mandatory midterm exam and one final exam. Attendance at all classes is also mandatory. Now, I'm sure you're all eager to hear about grades. Anyone who attends all classes will receive a C for attendance. Anyone who does all the homework assignments perfectly will receive a C for homework. Anyone with a perfect score on all quizzes will receive a C, and anyone who gets a perfect grade in the midterm and final exams will receive a C. Now let's talk about the outline for the course... STUDENT -- Excuse me. PROFESSOR -- Yes? STUDENT -- Um. What if a person gets a perfect score on attendance and homework and quizzes and midterm and final exams? PROFESSOR -- He will get a C for the course. Now, about the course outline... STUDENT -- Excuse me. PROFESSOR -- Yes? STUDENT -- What if a person misses a class? PROFESSOR -- He'll still get a C. Now back to the course outline. STUDENT -- Excuse me. PROFESSOR -- Yes? STUDENT -- What if a person misses ALL the classes? PROFESSOR -- He'll still get a C. STUDENT -- So, all students will get a C for attendance whether they come to class or not? PROFESSOR -- That's correct. Before we go on, are there any other questions? STUDENT -- What about the homework assignments? PROFESSOR -- What about them? STUDENT -- What if we don't turn in ANY homework assignments? PROFESSOR -- You will get a C. STUDENT -- Is the same true for the quizzes? PROFESSOR -- Yes. STUDENT -- And the exams? PROFESSOR -- Yes. STUDENT -- And the final grade? PROFESSOR -- Yes. STUDENT -- So, just so I understand, if I bust my hump and do everything perfectly, I'll get the same reward as a person who does nothing? PROFESSOR -- That's correct. STUDENT -- That's not fair! Why are you doing this? PROFESSOR -- It's my way of expressing compassion on those less fortunate. STUDENT -- Compassion?! PROFESSOR -- That's right. I feel the pain of those in my class who don't do well on routine tasks like homework or mentally challenging tasks like tests. And in order to show my compassion, I have decided to take the A's an B's from those more fortunate and apply them to those with F's and D's. STUDENT -- You can't be serious! PROFESSOR -- Why not? The government does this sort of thing all the time. STUDENT -- This is ridiculous. PROFESSOR -- Then, let me repeat what I said at the start of class: Welcome to Economics 101. I'm Professor Johnson and I will be teaching this course on the effects of government intervention in the economy. STUDENT -- I don't get it. How is that relevant to this discussion? PROFESSOR -- When government intervenes into the economy of a nation, fairness suffers. STUDENT -- Are you saying that government intervention into the economy has the same affect as your grading system? PROFESSOR -- It's not exactly the same, but the tendency is proportional. The more a government intervenes in the economy, the less fair it becomes. STUDENT -- It's not the same! It's not the same at all! PROFESSOR -- How is redistributing grades any different than redistributing wealth? STUDENT -- Money is not the same as grades. PROFESSOR -- How are they different? STUDENT -- I... I don't know. But I'm sure they are. PROFESSOR -- Let me ask you a question. When I announced that the slackers would get the same grade as the conscientious students, what was your reaction? STUDENT -- My reaction? PROFESSOR -- Yes. Did you develop a strategy for this course based on how well your efforts are rewarded? STUDENT -- Well, yeah. I decided that if that's the way it really would be, why bother? PROFESSOR -- If you earned twice as much money as your coworker, but your boss gave some of your earnings to your coworker, would you be upset? STUDENT -- Of course. PROFESSOR -- If you knew your boss would do exactly the same thing next pay period, would your strategy change? STUDENT -- Of course. I'd either quit or quit trying. PROFESSOR -- The result of imposing equality is NEVER an increase in production, it's ALWAYS a decrease. Do you think it's any different when it's the government who is picking your pocket? STUDENT -- How is the government picking our pockets? PROFESSOR -- One method is euphamistically called "Welfare". STUDENT -- How does welfare pick our pockets? PROFESSOR -- Welfare has the same effect as paying people for not working. The outcome is the same as telling people, "Why go out and work for a living when the government will pay you for being unemployed?" STUDENT -- You're not really saying that the government should let poor people starve to death, are you? PROFESSOR -- Not at all. For thousands of years poor people were ministered to by churches, charities and charitable people. When churches give to the poor, it's perceived as MERCY. But when the government does the giving, those receiving it call it an ENTITLEMENT, which is defined by the Bible as coveting. And those whose pockets are picked for this entitlement are filled with resentment. Why the difference? In one case the giving is voluntary and in the other the giving is legalized stealing. STUDENT -- You aren't REALLY going to give all of us in this class the same grade, are you? PROFESSOR -- Of course not! I want each of you to strive for excellence, so I will reward you for excellence. It's the only truly fair system. And that's why the Bible says that there are only two legitimate rolls for government: To punish those who do wrong and to reward those who do right. One could argue that welfare violates both of those rolls, which is why one could argue that government welfare is as immoral as it is ineffective. Okay, that's it for today. You can pick up a course outline and the REAL grading system on your way out the door. See you next time. (exits) ©2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it. Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances. You may reproduce and distribute this script freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org email: bob@bobsnook.org BACK |