In the lunchroom today, some of my students started talking about a time when one of them took someone else’s M&Ms and shared them with everyone else in the class. They started debating–as eighth graders are wont to do–whether the action was virtuous or not.
After letting them vent their steam for a bit, I interjected with a question: “What do you call it when you take something that doesn’t belong to you, even if you kindly give it to someone else?”
“Socialism,” the quietest student replied.
Out of the mouth of babes…