Unintended Consequences - "What's in it for me?"

Recent comments regarding the proposed Cash for Clunkers bill parallel those of the various mortgage bailout plans. Then, well advised owners of appropriately sized houses with sustainable mortgages wanted to know “what’s in it for me?” “Will my mortgage rate decrease? How come I don’t warrant some rebate or something?”

Now, owners of environmentally friendly cars recognize that to participate in the Cars for Clunkers deal they will have to trade their high MPG vehicles for something akin to a motorcycle to get the required MPG improvement. They are asking the same questions – “What’s in it for me?” “I’ve been ecologically friendly and prudent and don’t drive a Hummer. Why don’t I get something?”

Well, Welcome to Socialism!

This all reminds me of the recent story of the economics class that wanted to fully understand socialism. The professor agreed to an experiment and for the semester, every student received the class averaged grade for the various activities. After the first test, resulting in a class average of 78%, those with poor individual work were delighted with their grades. Those who achieved individual scores of 80%, 90% or above complained – “What’s in it for me?” The second activity resulted in an average grade of 75% and again the students with poor work rejoiced and the higher scoring students complained. As the semester progressed, the average grade dropped, and dropped, sinking to a final average grade of 65% for all the students. Why? Because, the good students recognized and responded to the answer to their question. “What’s in it for me?” Obviously, NOTHING.

Margaret Thatcher is credited with this statement: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." The students learned that the they eventually ran out of someone eles’ effort.

The economics class asside, one can argue the beneifts of socialism based upon a social improvement. However, one cannot discount or discredit the need for individual responsibility and achievement based upon effort and knowledge and the resulting personal gains. There is and must be some level of “life competency.” All animals must be prepared to survive and prosper in their environments. The US population is no exception.

As a country, we have and are devoting billions of dollars to education to establish, at some defined level, all individuals’ basic knowledge, i.e. the knowledge needed for functional existence in our society. Yet, there is no individual accountability. More sadly and importantly, there is no general expectation that people possess that functional knowledge.

The current transition from analogue to digital TV is a perfect example of this lack of individual accountability. In socialism, this is a standard theme. Clearly, the transition date was delayed four months because there were simply too many unprepared individuals to minimize the problems of this transition. Even today, the date of transition, organizations are “bracing themselves” for an onslaught of questions and concerns. (Sounds like Y2K to me. We shall see.) Discounting those individuals who are aged or otherwise incapacitated, this transition could not have been any easier.

One can only imagine the added costs associated with the delay. People who can function in today’s society should not have been overwhelmed by ANY of this. At the lowest end of the economic scale, if one can navigate the complexities of the welfare system to receive a check, plugging a box into a TV and an antenna, and reading the instructions is kids play. In fact, as a worse case senario, get a kid to do it.

In America, we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, NOT the PROMISE of happiness! We have to use our abilities to gain happiness. If the above is an example of our best survival skills and abilities, it is time for people to self-nominate for the Darwin Award. In fact when I think about it, they are doing so and as you read this, their lack of survival preparation is leading to car accidents by drunken drivers, murders, abortions, overdoses and countless other self-distructive actions. It’s too bad that their actions also impact others.