Explaining Redistribution to Kids (and Some Adults)

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There has been much discussion about the redistribution of wealth in the United States, both from Democrats and Republicans.  Unfortunately, kids and many adults cannot really grasp the meaning.  This little article might help those kids and adults understand how it works, and the fairness involved.
Little Sally came home from her 6th grade class in tears.  "What is wrong?" her mother asked.  "I got my report card today!" Sally sobbed.  "Why is that a problem?", mom asked.  "You always have great grades!" "I got all A's again this time, but I got called into the principal's office," Sally replied.  "He said that there were kids in school who received all F's, and that I would be required to share my A's with them.  He said that they would change all of my grades to C's and in that way, they could change those other kids grades to C's too!" Mom asked, "Are these kids from poor, underprivileged families." "No!" Sally answered.  "Some of them live in our neighborhood.  They usually spend all of their time watching TV and playing video games, and never get their homework done." Mom went to the principal to complain, but to no avail.  The decision had been made by the Board of Trustees,  the administrators, the teachers and the State Board of Education because it was fairer to all of the students.  They had decided that the smart students should pay their fair share of their wealth in grades.  Mom used to think that taxing the wealthy, even though they had earned their money through hard work was fair in order to help those less fortunate.  It had never dawned on her that perhaps those "less fortunate" had failed to take advantage of our educational system, and instead goofed around all their lives and now were dependent on the government to keep them above water.
As Sally sent through junior high school and high school, it became even worse.  She still worked hard to get the top grades, even while playing sports and engaging in many extra-curricular activities, but her A's were always modified to bring up the grades of the F students.  Some of her friends, who had previously received all A's also lost their grades to those less fortunate, quit working so hard and their real grades dropped.  They figured that since they were going to end up with a C anyway, why work so hard. By the time Sally was a junior in high school, the number of A's to go around had diminished significantly.  The bureaucrats who had come up with this plan had to go to Plan B.  They began importing A's from China and India.  It was very easy, too, because there was such an overabundance of A's in those countries.  After all, they took 11 academic classes at a time and their parents disciplined their kids on the need for a good education, so they had plenty of A's to go around.
Finally, Sally was ready to graduate from high school and go off to college.  Unfortunately, because of the grading system, she was deemed to be just a mediocre student and was not accepted to any of the exceptional universities to which she applied.  Instead, here place was taken by students from India and China, as well as students from other states where the equalization program had not been used.  Sally was heartbroken.  She had worked so hard for so many years, but had nothing to show for it.  She had earned a wealth of A's, only to have them all taken away and given to those who would not buckle down and to the work to earn them. Sally was an intelligent young lady, though, and decided to start her own business.  She was doing very well and began making a significant amount of money.  Then, another group came along telling her that she had to pay her "fair share." It is at this point that Sally registered with the Republican Party.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com Ken Koenen is an attorney in Northern California with an emphasis on taxation, real estate, estate planning and business.  He is the author of "Greed: American Dream Becomes the Global Nightmare."  He also provides a number of seminars and webinars related to legal issues and self development..