Bryan W. Alaspa 1The Candy Analogy
April 20th 2010 18:19
It's funny to me when I look around at the people who classify themselves as conservatives. They seem to be a very frightened bunch of people. They also seem remarkably selfish, at least to me, but I am repeatedly told that this is not the case. However, it seems that their idea of helping people in need is to pat them on the back, smile, and give them a kind of thumbs up.
Imagine a room full of people. They each have a table and on that table is a bunch of candy. It works best to imagine these people as children. Some of the people have a lot of candy. Some have a decent amount of candy. Some have a little bit of candy and some, those very unfortunately few, have no candy at all.
Imagine Lenny the Liberal. He looks down and he sees he has a moderate pile of candy. Across from him is Carl the Conservative who has a HUGE pile of candy. The pile is excessive by any standard, and likely more candy than Carl would ever be able to eat in a lifetime of candy-eating. Lenny looks and see he has a fair amount, but probably still more than he would ever need. He looks to his right and sees one guy who has only a little bit of candy and, next to him, another guy who has none. Both of them are working hard to get more candy, but circumstances are such that neither can get a break.
So, Lenny gets an idea. "Hey," he says to Carl, "why don't we give some of our candy to these guys? Then maybe we can inspire them to get more candy and give them a bit of a cushion so they can earn more to make get more candy."
To which Carl replies. "No! This candy is MINE! MINE! MINE! It's my candy and you can't have any of it and neither can they. Get your own candy!"
Lenny nods. "Ok, sure, but these guys are having some trouble getting candy. How about we create a program to help theme get some candy until they are able to get candy of their own? You'll still have more candy than you can ever possibly need."
Carl snarls, "MINE! MINE! MINE! This is all MINE! They don't deserve it! If you just give it to them, they won't work for it! The non-candy people are all the same! You give them candy and they just take and take! MINE!"
Lenny asks the two men, "Would you benefit from some candy? Do you just want to take candy and never work for it?" They say no, but some candy, given to them, or perhaps done in a way that they can eventually pay the candy back, would at least help.
Lenny then tell this to Carl who flusters and simply screams, "MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!"
Lenny starts working on his own. He distributes some of his own candy to others with less. He finds most of them are willing to pay him back. Several achieve success and do pay back. There are a few who take advantage, but most are hard working people who really do try to pay back their candy.
Carl, meanwhile, has started spreading lies. He says that all Lenny want to do is take EVERYONE'S candy and that he will not stop until ALL of the candy has been taken from EVERYONE. He also lobbies for special dispensations that will allow him to keep more and more candy. His argument is that if everyone sees how much candy he has, somehow this will inspire them to work harder to get more candy.
Lenny sees the success of his program and goes to Carl to ask for help. Now, however, Carl has managed to recruit others who have large amounts of candy. However, he has also managed, through his fear tactics, to recruit people with only an average amount of candy. All of them, however, are convinced Lenny is just going to take all of their candy and leave them with nothing.
As Lenny tries to talk to them, reasonably, conversationally, about his program. As he tries to point out the benefits to everyone about his program, he finds he has a problem. Carl's people are so filled with fear, they do not want to talk. They scream and shout down Lenny and the people on his side. They call this "patriotic" and "free speech" even though it does nothing to foster actual debate.
Ultimately, as Lenny looks on bewildered, he sees that their entire argument comes down to a single word, shouted over and over again: "MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!"
It's hard to argue with a policy like that. At least, not in any way resembling intelligence. Which is sad. However, it really seems to be what we have.
Imagine a room full of people. They each have a table and on that table is a bunch of candy. It works best to imagine these people as children. Some of the people have a lot of candy. Some have a decent amount of candy. Some have a little bit of candy and some, those very unfortunately few, have no candy at all.
Imagine Lenny the Liberal. He looks down and he sees he has a moderate pile of candy. Across from him is Carl the Conservative who has a HUGE pile of candy. The pile is excessive by any standard, and likely more candy than Carl would ever be able to eat in a lifetime of candy-eating. Lenny looks and see he has a fair amount, but probably still more than he would ever need. He looks to his right and sees one guy who has only a little bit of candy and, next to him, another guy who has none. Both of them are working hard to get more candy, but circumstances are such that neither can get a break.
So, Lenny gets an idea. "Hey," he says to Carl, "why don't we give some of our candy to these guys? Then maybe we can inspire them to get more candy and give them a bit of a cushion so they can earn more to make get more candy."
To which Carl replies. "No! This candy is MINE! MINE! MINE! It's my candy and you can't have any of it and neither can they. Get your own candy!"
Lenny nods. "Ok, sure, but these guys are having some trouble getting candy. How about we create a program to help theme get some candy until they are able to get candy of their own? You'll still have more candy than you can ever possibly need."
Carl snarls, "MINE! MINE! MINE! This is all MINE! They don't deserve it! If you just give it to them, they won't work for it! The non-candy people are all the same! You give them candy and they just take and take! MINE!"
Lenny asks the two men, "Would you benefit from some candy? Do you just want to take candy and never work for it?" They say no, but some candy, given to them, or perhaps done in a way that they can eventually pay the candy back, would at least help.
Lenny then tell this to Carl who flusters and simply screams, "MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!"
Lenny starts working on his own. He distributes some of his own candy to others with less. He finds most of them are willing to pay him back. Several achieve success and do pay back. There are a few who take advantage, but most are hard working people who really do try to pay back their candy.
Carl, meanwhile, has started spreading lies. He says that all Lenny want to do is take EVERYONE'S candy and that he will not stop until ALL of the candy has been taken from EVERYONE. He also lobbies for special dispensations that will allow him to keep more and more candy. His argument is that if everyone sees how much candy he has, somehow this will inspire them to work harder to get more candy.
Lenny sees the success of his program and goes to Carl to ask for help. Now, however, Carl has managed to recruit others who have large amounts of candy. However, he has also managed, through his fear tactics, to recruit people with only an average amount of candy. All of them, however, are convinced Lenny is just going to take all of their candy and leave them with nothing.
As Lenny tries to talk to them, reasonably, conversationally, about his program. As he tries to point out the benefits to everyone about his program, he finds he has a problem. Carl's people are so filled with fear, they do not want to talk. They scream and shout down Lenny and the people on his side. They call this "patriotic" and "free speech" even though it does nothing to foster actual debate.
Ultimately, as Lenny looks on bewildered, he sees that their entire argument comes down to a single word, shouted over and over again: "MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!"
It's hard to argue with a policy like that. At least, not in any way resembling intelligence. Which is sad. However, it really seems to be what we have.
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