Father Daughter talk

Humor with some truth..

Published on April 5, 2004 By Draginol In Republican

This is floating around emails on the net. I didn't write this. So to whomever wrote it, good job.

Father-Daughter Talk

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was for distribution of all wealth. She felt deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican which she expressed openly. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to higher taxes on the rich & the addition of more government welfare programs.

Based on the lectures that she had participated in and the occasional chat with a professor she felt that for years her father had obviously harbored an evil, even selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his. The self professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father

He stopped her and asked her point blank, how she was doing in school. She answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain. That she studied all the time, never had time to go out and party like other people she knew

She didn't even have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying. That she was taking a more difficult curriculum.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your good friend Mary doing.

She replied, "Mary is barely getting by". She continued, "She barely has a 2.0 GPA", adding, "and all she takes are easy classes and she never studies." "But Mary is so very popular on campus, college for her is a blast, she goes to all the parties all the time and very often doesn't even show up for classes because she is too hung over.

Her father then asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0." He continued, "That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter visibly shocked by her father's suggestion angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I worked really hard for mine, I did without and Mary has done little or nothing, she played while I worked real hard!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Comments (Page 2)

vincible

on Apr 06, 2004

I've never met someone who is rich that doesn't work their butt off (i.e. >40 hours per week on average).

Wow. Maybe it's that I'm recently out of college, but I know a fair number of rich kids who are busy draining their parents' money and not doing anything productive with their lives, because they know that they've got a fat inheritance coming and they'll never need to work. And even though these are the extreme cases, having wealthy parents in general makes it MUCH easier to be successful yourself, and having poor parents makes it harder.

As for the original post--it replies equally well to the Republican party if you think of all the industry subsidies it hands out. Corporate welfare is just as bad as normal welfare.

messybuu

on Apr 06, 2004

I can show you a lot of rich people that don't work, and, as we've argued about before, the poor people I know tend not to be able to get jobs, because either the economy is slow, or the field they've been trained in is lagging.

There are probably a lot of rich people that don't work, as they were born in wealthy families, but are they a good example of the average rich person? Also, one has to wonder if these families were always rich or had somebody work their ass off to become rich (or be lucky enough to win the lottery). Wealth has to start somewhere and it's usually either luck (i.e. lottery) or hard work. As for not being able to find a job because the economy is slow, what was their excuse when the economy was great? Also, some jobs don't really require any training, and if they already have experience, then they'll certainly have an easier time getting those jobs than I will.

Oh, and I know a half a dozen farmers that make below the poverty line, all of whom, I can almost guarantee work longer, and certainly more arduous hours than you. No offense.

Farmers don't represent the average poor person though. Since they're such a vital part of society, I don't think anybody would mind helping them out.

Erique Dela Crappe

on Apr 06, 2004

It's the strangest thing. Just the other day I saw a discussion right at this very forum about the minimum wage, and I'd swear I saw some people say there that raising the minimum wage would cost millions and millions of jobs. SO obviously, this means millions and millions of people work minimum wage jobs, at MacDonalds and similar places as the example went. I even thought I saw some genuine appreciation for these people working hard for so little money. I guess I was wrong, now all of a sudden they are lazy and simply not applying themselves as much as the rich cats out there.

To say that

as a general rule, those who are wealthy work a lot harder than those who are poor.

is yet another sweeping simplification that renders your whole argument worthless. It is so blatantly untrue in so incredibly many cases that it means absolutely nothing.

At last year's Entrepreneur of the Year awards, as an example, the people I met were much like myself in that we constantly at working and sacrificing. They enjoy building things, providing for their families. I haven't had a day off in 6 weeks for instance. I worked 12 hours yesterday. Show me a poor person that does that because I certainly haven't met him or her.

And I know people who don't have time (or aren't invited) to go to award evenings because it would interfere with their second job, the one they do to be able to provide for their starving families.

heyhey

on Apr 06, 2004

Why are farmers such a "vital part of society"? Isnt it the reason farmers are doing it tough the same reason the guy on the factory line making shoes is doing it tough i.e. their goods can be produced cheaper overseas....the only difference that I can see is that farmers still get massive Government protection (welfare) whereas the shoe company has to play on a level playing field, so it sacks the poor old factory worker and ships his job to some struggling 3rd world country.

heyhey

on Apr 06, 2004

....sorry, I shouldnt have said 'struggling 3rd world country' after all, it's their own fault for not being as rich as the US, they just dont work hard enough........

debidoll

on Apr 06, 2004

Song: For the Love of Money Lyrics (Artist- The O'Jays)

Money money money money, money [x6]
Some people got to have it
Some people really need it
Listen to me y'all, do things, do things, do bad things with it
You wanna do things, do things, do things, good things with it
Talk about cash money, money
Talk about cash money- dollar bills, yall

For the love of money
People will steal from their mother
For the love of money
People will rob their own brother
For the love of money
People can't even walk the street
Because they never know who in the world they're gonna beat
For that lean, mean, mean green
Almighty dollar, money

For the love of money
People will lie, Lord, they will cheat
For the love of money
People don't care who they hurt or beat
For the love of money
A woman will sell her precious body
For a small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight
Call it lean, mean, mean green

Almighty dollar

I know money is the root of all evil
Do funny things to some people
Give me a nickel, brother can you spare a dime
Money can drive some people out of their minds

Got to have it, I really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Some people really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Got to have it, I really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Lay down, lay down, a woman will lay down
For the love of money
All for the love of money
Don't let, don't let, don't let money rule you
For the love of money
Money can change people sometimes
Don't let, don't let, don't let money fool you
Money can fool people sometimes
People! Don't let money, dont let money change you,
it will keep on changing, changing up your mind.

.six weeks without a day off...........sheesh!

messybuu

on Apr 06, 2004

Where exactly are people calling those who start at entry-level jobs lazy?

is yet another sweeping simplification that renders your whole argument worthless. It is so blatantly untrue in so incredibly many cases that it means absolutely nothing.

And what is to be said of the generalization that poor people are mostly working two jobs to support starving families?

....sorry, I shouldnt have said 'struggling 3rd world country' after all, it's their own fault for not being as rich as the US, they just dont work hard enough........

It probably would have been best not to compare American poor to third world poor. For one, "poor" Americans have many services out there to help them progress.

Draginol

on Apr 06, 2004

Perhaps a better question: "Why not help Mary by spending study time with her, perhaps you could get her grade up." Welcome to the Democratic Party.

Pretty much I agree that that is an accurate view of the Democrats with one small tweak. Change it to this: "Perhaps we should FORCE someone to help Mary by spending study time with her and get her grade up."

If the netizens of JoeUser.com are even remotely typical, the ones advocating more government help for "the needy" are the ones who pay little to no taxes. "Heartless" people like me are the ones who pay for the "compassion" of the left.

Draginol

on Apr 06, 2004

$8 per hour = $16,000 per year. Hardly "poor". I spent a good chunk of my adult life making that or less.

And I know people who don't have time (or aren't invited) to go to award evenings because it would interfere with their second job, the one they do to be able to provide for their starving families.

Starving? Please. Who do you know that is starving? I'm sorry but if you're starving in the United States then you're either incredibly lazy or incredibly inept. It's virtually impossible to starve. The "poor" in the United STates are the most obese group of poor people in the world.

jeblackstar

on Apr 06, 2004

Brad, I invite you take a look at certain statistics by the Department of Health and Human Services. There are a lot of starving people in The United States.

Cheers

jeblackstar

on Apr 06, 2004

Sorry, the statistic comes from the National Center for Health Statistics and Cornell Univiersity:

Link

Cheers

messybuu

on Apr 06, 2004

Is that considered starving? I see nothing there that suggests that people are dying of hunger or near it. The details as to why they're not eating enough aren't very clear either.

Draginol

on Apr 06, 2004

Brad, I invite you take a look at certain statistics by the Department of Health and Human Services. There are a lot of starving people in The United States.

Feel free to educate me. There are people who are (to use the phrase) "in danger of food shortages" but in most of those cases, they are children whose parents are not providing food. Not from lack of money but from lack of competence.

The article you link to, btw, is not one about starvation. It's about people who are hungry. A huge difference. We spent $30 billion a year on federal food stamp programs. That's $100 for every man woman and child in America. Let's say 10 million Americans seriously need help. That's $3,000 for every single one of them. You don't need $3,000 to keep from starving.

Like I said, if you go hungry in the United States it's likely due to extreme ineptitude (i.e. not knowing how to get food).

jeblackstar

on Apr 06, 2004

You're right, it's one about hunger, I should have been more careful in my phrasing, unfortunately, hunger, malnutrition, and the other demons that go along with it are just as bad as hunger. The root causes of hunger, as listed by the article, are insufficient food stamps, and lack of money. Since food stamps cannot be used to buy alcohol or cigarettes, then obviously 3000 dollars a year is insufficient, either that or your numbers fail to account for "administration costs" such as printing, dispersion, collection, etc.

Cheers

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