Social Engineering

When it comes to politics one of the things I hate to see is promises of "social engineering." Regardless of the candidate, it seems that abortion is the one topic that seems to come up in the platform. I don't know if it is because of the two opposing lobbying parties, or a perception of what the public thinks matters that I just don't get, but I wish it would go away.

First, let me explain my position on it. Personally, I dislike the idea of abortion, and I have made sure that all of my sexual partners either have had similar views or would be willing to abide by mine. I just cannot stomach the idea of a child I had fathered being aborted. Politically, however, I remain convinced that abortion must be protected and remain legal. There are a couple of different reasons for the political side to it.

One, abortions did not just start happening with Roe vs. Wade. They were being performed even when they were either downright illegal and quasi-legal. Unfortunately, the abortions performed during those days were often just as fatal to the mother as to the child. The idea that a bunch of lawmakers in Washington can write up a bunch of new laws and then there wouldn't be anymore abortions just doesn't make common sense and can only be formed with a total disregard of both history and human nature. Abortions would simply go underground again, and as a result we will have a bunch of doctors and would-be mothers sitting in prisons and jails.

Second, abortion is a social morals question, not a legal one. If, like me, you don't personally approve of abortion, then it is not an option for you. You have the power to talk about it on a personal level with your partner, and teach your children and instill your values in them. However, there are a lot of people that do not hold the same social morals and do not see a problem with the option. That is their right. They also have the ability to talk about it and teach their children just like I do.

So, any legislation on the subject, other than the basic keeping it safe variety, is only an attempt at social engineering. History tells us our government is not very good at social engineering. Remember Prohibition and the 18th Amendment of the Constitution? During the fourteen years that the 18th Amendment was in place, it had the EXACT opposite result of what was planned by its social engineers. The idea was that by banning intoxicating beverages (except those used in religious ceremonies) the country's social morals would improve. Instead, we produced more alcoholics during that period that at any time in history, gave rise to numerous all powerful illegal cartels dealing in illicit booze, and host of horrific social disasters. It was a mitigated disaster, as attested to by the 21st Amendment which repealed the 18th in its entirety.

Social engineering does work, but it is not a machination of legislation. It works when children are taught, and continue to uphold, the morals of the generation before. This is the only way it works outside of a totalitarian state.

This is not to say that I wouldn't like to see SOME changes in the laws dealing with abortion, but that is a topic for another post.

Just Because We Can, Doesn't Always Mean We Should

Went grocery shopping today. Nothing strange in the act, do it every week, just not normally on Sunday with all the blue haired old ladies after church. You don't want to get between one of these ladies and the pot roast they are spying for Sunday dinner. Talk about competitive shopping! But that is a topic for another day.

One of the things that has been bothering me about the grocery store recently is the presence of the self-checkout lines. Even though I used one today, they really do get on my nerves. I know they are supposed to be there as a "convenience" to the customer (which it was today), but I normally take a different view about them.

I go to the grocery store and pay whatever is listed on the label because it is cheaper than shopping at a convenience store like 7-11. I know it is. However, I also know that part of the pricing of the food I am buying is to pay for the cashiers. When the people who dictate the pricing sit down to figure out what they can sell the hotdogs for, the price doesn't magically appear. They have to take into account what they pay for it wholesale, what it costs them to transport it to the store, stock it, and how much it costs to employ the cashiers to handle the customers. It's called overhead. The self-checkout lines help with the store's overhead since they can use one cashier to cover four or five registers. So, in real terms, by me checking myself out, and basically doing a job that I am paying them to do for me, I am saving the store money.

Now, I realize the amount of money I am talking about here on any given item is maybe a penny or two. Doesn't sound like much right? Well, if you figure that I buy 100 individual items on average, that one or two pennies is suddenly a buck or two. I know people who will drive half way back across town to get the coupons they left on the fridge in order to save a buck or two! And that for me is really the thing that gets me with the whole idea of self-checkout.

If the savings were being passed back to the customer (either by lower prices overall, or even a one cent per item discount on the bill for checking out yourself) I wouldn't have a problem. But as it is now, I am doing a job that I am already paying to have done for me. To make matters worse, stores have now figured out that with all the self-checkout lines, if they do NOT open the traditional lines, their customers are more willing to use the self-service lines rather than wait.

Now, I am a business man, and I completely understand the business idea behind it. But as a customer, I have to say that just because technology made it possible for the self-checkout to be possible, it doesn't necessarily mean that the store should do it. Whatever happened to the customer service aspect of the grocery store? We are still paying for it, but they aren't providing it. I felt like walking up to the manager and asking for a refund on my bill for doing their damn job!