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Are Democrats Smarter than a 6th grader on economics?

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

English: A teacher and young pupils at The Bri...

Dr. Jay Richards tells a great story about his sixth grade teacher’s explanation of economics. One day the teacher came into class and gave each student a small toy…a silly putty egg, a whiffle ball, a set of Barbi trading cards, and so on. (This was back in the day when 6th graders were still kids, not the mini adults parents send to school today.) The teacher said, “Each of you look at your toy and the ones around you. Then I want you to mark on a piece of paper how much you like the toy on a 1 to 10 scale. A 10 means you love it and you wouldn’t trade for anything you see. A 1 means you hate it and would trade for anything else. Everything else means you are somewhere in the middle.” Each child submitted a number. The teacher added them up, and wrote the sum on the board.

“Now,” said the teacher, “you are sitting in five rows of five desks each. You may trade freely with any student in your row, but you don’t have to trade if you don’t want to.”

After a few minutes some of the students had traded toys, and the teacher once again asked them to write a number representing how much they liked their toy. Amazingly (if you are a zero sum believer) the sum of the numbers was higher. The toys were the same, but free trade had made the children collectively much happier.

The teacher then told the class they could now trade with anyone in the room as many times as they liked. There was pandemonium for a few minutes as the kids moved around trading, re-trading, laughing, and enjoying the exercise. At the end, the teacher added up their submitted numbers. As someone who believes in a free economy would expect, the last sum was much higher than the earlier ones.

One notable thing from this elementary school exercise is that there was nothing new added to the equation…no new wealth, in other words. The kids made themselves happier by creating an exchange on their own terms, without strict rules (government regulations), without intervention by the teacher or school board (bureaucracy), without someone taking away their toys (taxation) and giving them to someone else (redistribution). Imagine what the result might have been if, like in a free economy, new and better toys (new wealth) had been added to the exchange. Eventually, newer and better toys would have allowed every child in the room to mark his or her toy as a “10.”

Zero sum? Don’t believe it! Zero sum economics is one of the many canards invented by Marxists and adopted by Democrats whose main desire is to control all the wealth generated by the working people of America. Free trade coupled with invention will create more wealth and greater contentment for all.

Obama and the Democrats are wrong. American ingenuity and businesses do not steal dollars from the poor; quite the contrary, those once-lauded elements of the American experience actually create new wealth, which creates new jobs and opportunities for all citizens, which creates even more wealth!

Proving that they are not smarter than a 6th grader. 

eagle_feather_icon.gifThis is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.
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Dem Govs Unclear on Whether Voters Should Have Say in Public Employee Pay Hikes

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Democratic governors were critical of how Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is handling the showdown with the public employees union in his state, but were ambiguous about whether they could support Walker’s proposal to allow voters to approve or disapprove by referendum any pay raise for public employees – including teachers – that exceeds the rate of inflation.

Why should the taxpayers have a say in what public sector union members make, it is not like they are paying their salaries or anything, Oh wait they actually are paying their salaries, perhaps then they should have a say in how much they think they should get paid.

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bs3ew

Back to the Beginning

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor
Insight from the Journey across the Sky

This is the beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “I am sending my messenger ahead of you to prepare the way for you.” “A voice cries out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight!’” John the Baptizer was in the desert telling people about a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. John was dressed in clothes made from camel’s hair. He wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. Mark 1:1-6Open Link in New Window (GW)

Let’s start at the very beginning
A very good place to start
When you read you begin with
A-B-C
When you sing you begin with do-re-mi
Do-re-mi
Do-re-mi
The first three notes just happen to be
Do-re-mi
Do-re-mi
Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti

So goes the famous song from The Sound of Music.

Everything has a beginning, a starting place. As it is in education, so it is with life. When it comes to learning every child learns to read by learning their ABC’s and they learn math by counting 123. Easy lessons become harder as we build precept upon precept, line upon line until we come to an understanding of complex sentences and mathematical equations. Not too many children are able to handle trigonometry in kindergarten.

Being a student of music I too had to learn at the beginning. The Do Re Mi’s of musical theory and construction. Learning the basics made the complex easier to understand and tackle. Had I started out with an Etude by Chopin I may have given up before I even got started, although Chopin penned the first of these while still in his teens.

Knowing at what level a child is able to perform helps a teacher set forth a lesson plan suitable for each child. Some students can handle more complex principles earlier than others. But nonetheless each must learn to apply the basics if they wish to grow in their mastery of any instrument.

Music instruction includes elements of both reading and mathematics. Numbers and language are involved in a thorough knowledge of music and composition. So a student who does not read well or has trouble counting will probably struggle in music instruction.

A disregard for the basics makes progression in any subject difficult if not impossible. Failure to learn the most basic concepts makes complex formulas and equations almost impossible to comprehend.

Continue reading “Back to the Beginning” →