Deep down inside, I'm a cutthroat capitalist

Although I normally do my best to refrain from waxing politic, those of you who know me well know that I learn to the left, and the far left at that. Socialist in theory, democrat in practice. This morning, those philosophies were questioned when my boss informed me that the lab just got a substantial increase in funding, and he wanted to use some of it to supplement the stipends of the three grad students in the lab. In other words, give us a raise. Too bad that it's prohibited under departmental regulations. All graduate students earn the set stipend, and nothing more. I understand that it's in the interest of fairness and equality, in that students should choose their labs based on the science, not on the money. But honestly, aren't some grad students more equal than others?