The Fabian Society is a British intellectual socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World War I. The society laid many of the foundations of the Labour Party and subsequently affected the policies of states emerging from the decolonisation of the British Empire, especially India. Today, the society is a vanguard "think tank" of the New Labour movement. It is one of 15 socialist societies affiliated to the Labour Party. Similar societies exist in Australia (the Australian Fabian Society), Canada (the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation and in past the League for Social Reconstruction) and New Zealand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Society
Socialism Explained:
"You have two cows" jokes originated as a parody of the typical examples used in introductory-level economics course material. They featured a farmer in a moneyless society who uses the cattle he owns to trade with his neighbors. A typical example is: "You have two cows; you want chickens; you set out to find another farmer who has chickens and wants a cow". These examples were meant to show the limitations of the barter system, leading to the eventual introduction of currency and money.
The "two cows" parodies, however, place the cow-owner in a full-fledged economic system where cows are used as a metaphor for all currency, capital, and property. The intent of these jokes is usually to point out flaws and absurdities in those systems, although non-political jokes have been derived from them.
Jokes of this type attracted the attention of a scholar as early as 1944. An article in The Modern Language Journal discusses the classical ones, such as:
Socialism You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
Communism You have two cows. The government takes both of them and gives you part of the milk.
Fascism You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.
Totalitarianism You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.
Nazism You have two cows. The government takes both and then shoots you.
Bureaucracy You have two cows. The government takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain.
Capitalism You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
Anarchism You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.
American corporation You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.
French corporation You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.
Japanese corporation You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
German corporation You have two cows. You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
British corporation You have two cows. Both are mad. You try to sell them in Europe.
Italian corporation You have two cows but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.
Russian corporation You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
Swiss corporation You have 5000 cows, none of which belongs to you. You charge others for storing them.
Chinese corporation You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the numbers.
Indian corporation You have two cows. You worship them until they drop dead.
http://www.aeriagloris.com/Resources/humor/TwoCows.htm
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