A young woman was about to finish her first year of college.\u00a0 Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favour of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.<\/p>\n
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She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed.\u00a0 Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.<\/p>\n
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One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.<\/p>\n
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The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.\u00a0 He responded by asking how she was doing in school.<\/p>\n
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Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew.\u00a0 She didn’t even have time for a boyfriend, and didn’t really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.<\/p>\n
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Her father listened and then asked, \u201cHow is your friend Audrey doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
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She replied, \u201cAudrey is barely getting by.\u00a0 All she takes are easy classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA.\u00a0 She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast.\u00a0 She’s always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn’t even show up for classes because she’s too hung over.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Her wise father asked his daughter, \u201cWhy don’t you go to the Dean’s office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0.\u00a0 That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The daughter, visibly shocked by her father’s suggestion, angrily fired back, \u201cThat’s a crazy idea, how would that be fair!\u00a0 I’ve worked really hard for my grades!\u00a0 I’ve invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work!\u00a0 Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree.\u00a0 She played while I worked my tail off!\u201d<\/p>\n
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The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, \u201cWelcome to the conservative side of the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n
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(ed. – Thank you to my friend Antonio Carvalho for this humourist explanation of the difference between conservatives and liberals.)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n