Propaganda Debunking

DonViejo

(60,536 posts)

8. Snopes says....

Sun Jan 12, 2014, 02:43 PM

Jan 2014

BS!

LEGEND

:::snip:::

Origins: In March 2009, one of the e-mail forwards of the moment was the piece quoted above. It appeared variously titled "Excellent Lesson In Economics," "Great Experiment," "Experiment in Socialism," "Texas Professor," "A Simple Analogy," "A Great Lesson on Socialism," "Economics 101," "Something for Nothing?," "A Perfect Analogy," "Simple Economics" and "Capitalism vs Socialism."

There is indeed a real school named Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, but that school is merely one of many settings used for this fictional illustrative tale meant to explain the teller's belief that socialism does not work. (Another example of an illustrative tale used to explain what might otherwise be a difficult concept to grasp is the "How Taxes Work" item that was widely circulated in 2002.) We've encountered other pieces that expressed the same concept in a similar setting, such as the following:

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/socialism.asp#pESzxH7GgvRLBe2c.99

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Highlight:

This Story of a Prof Who Fails His Entire Class to Illustrate Obama's Socialism Has the Left Furious [View all] OmahaBlueDog Jan 2014 OP

This professor should be fired for being a complete idiot. The President is NOT a socialist, but lostincalifornia Jan 2014 #1

I believe variants of this story have been around since before President Obama was born. . . Journeyman Jan 2014 #2

And then the teacher and college were sued... This sounds like an Urban Legend. Shrike47 Jan 2014 #3

"Urban legend" is a very nice term for it. And Obama is no socialist. merrily Apr 2014 #26

furious(ly) laughing. Schema Thing Jan 2014 #4

I Googled it. Urban legend (Snopes) discussed on DU in March, 2010. Shrike47 Jan 2014 #5

Filing a lawsuit about things that never happened? merrily Apr 2014 #27

Snopes got a piece of this here... Snarkoleptic Jan 2014 #6

Snopes Turbineguy Jan 2014 #7

Snopes says.... DonViejo Jan 2014 #8

Smells? It's being spread in the garden as we write. TheBlackAdder Jan 2014 #9

This is an economics professor, Curmudgeoness Jan 2014 #10

idiot professor beachbum bob Jan 2014 #11

They probably run experiments like this at Oral Roberts University. nt Ilsa Jan 2014 #12

communism relies on a sense of community unblock Jan 2014 #13

Who is the "Independent Journal Review"???? angstlessk Jan 2014 #14

A wingnut site, apparantly OmahaBlueDog Jan 2014 #16

False analogy: lacks the inheritor class. Festivito Jan 2014 #15

When is a lack of effort good? knowledgeispower13 Nov 2014 #30

I saw this on Facebook a few months ago... Blanks Jan 2014 #17

I know citing Snopes doesn't work with wingers OmahaBlueDog Jan 2014 #18

There's apparently a parody website... Blanks Jan 2014 #19

Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2014 #20

After the first exam their would have been an uproar and the prof likely fired. yellowcanine Apr 2014 #21

More to the point, SheilaT Apr 2014 #22

Lubbock as a liberal oasis? Al Carroll Apr 2014 #23

Welcome to DU. merrily Apr 2014 #28

A rehash of Ayn Rand Biker Jim Apr 2014 #24

Welcome to DU. merrily Apr 2014 #25

Message auto-removed Name removed May 2014 #29