Editing You have two cows (section)

==History==

A 1936 article in ''[[The Modern Language Journal]]'' reports that the following definitions of "isims" were used in a Chicago political campaign:<ref>{{cite journal|first=George A. |last=Henninger|title=In Defense of Dictionaries and Definitions|journal=The Modern Language Journal|date=January 1944|volume=28|pp=29-39}}</ref>
*''[[Socialism]]'': If you have two cows, you give one to your neighbor.
*''[[Communism]]'': If you have two cows, you give them to the Government and the Government then gives you some milk.
*''[[Fascism]]'': If you have two cows, you keep the cows and give the milk to the Government; then the government sells you some milk.
*''[[New Deal|New Dealism]]'':  If you have two cows, you shoot one and milk the other; then you pour the milk down the drain.
*''[[Nazism]]'': If you have two cows, the Government shoots you and keeps the cows.
*''[[Capitalism]]'': If you have two cows, you sell one and buy a bull.

[[Bill Sherk]] mentions that such lists circulated throughout the United States since around 1936 under the title "Parable of the Isms".<ref name="f130">{{cite book | last=Sherk | first=Bill | title=500 Years of New Words | publisher=Doubleday Canada | publication-place=Toronto, Ont. ; Garden City, N.Y | date=1983 | isbn=0-385-17902-2 | page=162}}</ref> A column in ''The Chicago Daily Tribune'' in 1938 attributes a version involving socialism, communism, fascism and New Dealism<ref group=nb>''[[New Deal]]ism'': You have two cows. The government takes both, shoots one, buys milk from the other cow, then pours the milk down the drain. &mdash; Cited in: {{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tGSKyFVRJ_kC&q=%22You+have+two+cows.+You+sell+one+and+buy+a+bull%22&pg=PA71 | title = Vox Lycei 1939-1940 | author = Lisgar Collegiate Institute|publisher=Lisgar Alumni Association|page=71}}</ref> to an address by [[Silas H. Strawn|Silas Strawn]] to the [[Commercial Club of Chicago|Economic Club of Chicago]] on 29 November 1935.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Class in Political Isms |newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune |date=December 3, 1938 |at=p.12, col.3}}</ref>

Richard M Steers and Luciara Nardon in their book about global economy use the "two cows" metaphor to illustrate the [[Ethnic stereotype|concept of cultural differences]]. They write that jokes of this kind, "Russian company: You have two cows. You drink some vodka and count them again. You have five cows. The [[Russian Mafia]] shows up and takes however many cows you have", are considered funny because they are "realistic but exaggerated caricatures" of various cultures, and the pervasiveness of such jokes stems from the significant cultural differences. Steers and Nardon also state that others believe such jokes present [[cultural stereotype]]s and must be viewed with caution.<ref name="f060">{{cite book | last=Steers | first=Richard M. | last2=Nardon | first2=Luciara | title=Managing in the Global Economy | publisher=Gremese Editore | publication-place=Hoboken | date=2006 | isbn=0-7656-1551-7 | page=}}</ref>