“A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. She
considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, but her
father was a staunch Republican.
One day she was challenging
her father on his beliefs and his opposition to high taxes and
welfare programs. He stopped her and asked how she was doing in
school.
She answered that she had a 4.0 GPA, but it was really
tough. She had to study all the time and never had time to go
out and party. She didn’t have time for a boyfriend and didn’t
really have many college friends because of spending all her time
studying. On top of that, the part-time job her father insisted
she keep left absolutely no time for anything else.
He asked, ‘How
is your friend Mary?’ She replied that Mary was barely getting
by. She had a 2.0 GPA, never studied, but was very popular on
campus, didn’t have a job, and went to all the parties. She was
always complaining about not having any money, but didn’t want
to work. Why, she often didn’t show up for classes because she
was hung over.
Dad then asked his daughter why she didn’t go to
the Dean’s office and request that 1.0 be taken off her 4.0 and
given it to her friend who only had a 2.0. That way they would
both have a respectable 3.0 GPA. Then, she could also give her
friend half the money she’d earned from her job so that her friend
would no longer be broke.
The daughter angrily fired back, ‘That
wouldn’t be fair. I worked really hard for my grades and money,
and Mary just loafs. Why should her laziness and irresponsibility
be rewarded with half of what I’ve worked for?’
The father slowly
smiled and said, ‘Welcome to the Republican Party’.”
–Unattributed