An Exercise in Socialism

An Exercise in Socialism

I used the following illustration with first year medical students …

The setup was as follows:

• Seven sealed envelopes each with a numbered Post-It Note on the outside
• Each envelope contained a sheet of paper with a perforation
  • Envelope #1 had a column of ten “10s” with the perforated line just below the seventh “10.”
  • Envelope #2 had a column of nine “10s” with the perforated line just below the seventh “10.”
  • Envelope #3 had a column of eight “10s” with the perforated line just below the seventh “10.”
  • Envelope #4 had a column of seven “10s” with the perforated line just below the seventh “10.”
  • Envelope #5 had a column of six “10s” with the perforated line just below where the seventh “10” would have been.
  • Envelope #6 had a column of five “10s” with the perforated line just below where the seventh “10” would have been.
  • Envelope #7 had a column of for “10s” with the perforated line just below where the seventh “10” would have been.
• I selected seven students from the class and gave each an envelope.
• I then had the students select seven friends and give them the Post-It Note before opening the envelopes.
• Then students then opened the envelopes to reveal the grades for the course / grades for medical school / boards etc.
• I then interjected that I was the governing licensing board for the government with complete powers over the students’ ability to get a license.
• I ordered, under penalty of obtaining no license or jail, the person with the perfect score of 100 to detach the three tens below the seven along the perforated line and give it to the student with only 40 points.
• Each subsequent student with a score above 70 was ordered to do the same until all students had a score of 70.
• The results are as follows:
  • The first student balked ever so slightly and the student with 40 refused to take it … initially. I then advised the student with 40 that if he did not take it, then the student with 100 would not obtain a license. The student with 40 reluctantly took it.
  • And so it went for all of the other students.
  • I then proclaimed that each of the seven had successfully passed medical school and now had licenses to practice medicine.
  • Then I asked each of the students who had the Post-It Notes who they would trust to practice medicine on them or their family. Most selected everyone who had scored 70 or better and none selected the 60-50-40 students. We went into the reasons why and discussed it.
  • When asked which one I would chose, I replied, “None of them.” I gave them my reasoning for the answer. Clearly, those who did not master the material are not competent to practice. As for those who scored 70 or above while they mastered the material, they lacked the moral courage to stand up for what is right.
  • I then took the opportunity to relate the example further to taxable income. The person with 100, had that been his salary, would then forcibly surrender more than 30% of the income to the government.
  • It was a sobering exercise reflecting reality.