For every action there is...

I am currently reading Super Freakenomics and enjoying it as much as the first book. In one of the chapters the authors discuss the unforeseen consequences of actions and decisions. It makes for fascinating reading specially if one sees examples of this almost daily in our news media.

There are two stories that illustrate this in today's news. Firstly the very sad situation of an increase in rape in India. There have been demonstrations there against this which have turned violent. Today on Sky News they interviewed victims highlighting their plight. One of the local newspapers has a lot of coverage including opinion as to why this is happening.

The newspaper's take is that the rural culture is swiftly being influenced by modern trends and outside influences. The reality is, however, a lot simpler. Because of the preference for boys there is a high incident of girl infanticide. The result is that in one state in India there are only 823 girls for every 1000 boys. The consequence of the preference for boys is a shortage of marriage partners for their precious sons. Hence the desperate actions by these boys for something that under natural circumstances would happen... well... er... um... naturally.

The second story is that the new Egyptian constitution will probably be approved in the last round of voting in the referendum. Yayyy!! Democracy in action. The problem is that the need for a referendum is a consequence of the ruling party pushing through their own agenda without taking into account the desires of the entire population. If the ruling party think that winning the referendum, a democratic process of course, will have the consequence of calming the population should think again. My guess is that it will not for a number of reasons not the least of which is that a majority vote is alone not enough to please everyone. To paraphrase Honest Abe - you can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all of the people with a referendum.

I ask myself why the negative consequences of decisions cannot be seen by those making the decisions, but I guess the simple answer is that usually the decision makers are stricken with chronic stupidity.

'Til next post...