So, we had some of our Grandkids visiting this past week, and decided to take them to Chuck-E-Cheese. You know the place that has all the games, and if you are skillful or lucky, you win tickets that you can later redeem for prizes. Oh, and they also serve pizza, which none of the kids found time to eat as long as they have tokens to spend.

So we take all the tokens and divide them evenly among all the kids and they all take their coin cups out to seek their fortune. Some choose to have fun and just do the rides and others went to the skill games that rewarded success with tickets.

Before long they started bringing their strings of tickets, some long, others short, to the table for safekeeping. As it approached time to leave, we made an announcement, that all the tickets accumulated will be divided equally among all the kids. And we would be taking a portion of all the tickets (not voluntarily) for administering the program and insuring it’s fairness, as we want to get re-elected to run the program next time as well.

Immediately those that worked at the games and were successful cried foul! That isn’t fair! They were having fun while we were working at our skills and profiting by our success. And why should you get any tickets? But the ones who didn’t contribute any tickets liked the program just fine and said they would vote for us again next time we come!

At this point, we told these 8-12 year olds, that they had their first practical lesson in socialism and how it works!

Oh, that we would see it this clearly.

Mr. Roy Endres
Peoria, Illinois