Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Good ideas, bad world

These past few weeks I have been walking Pinkie Pie to school every day.  I think this has made getting up and out easier for her, and it certainly doesn't hurt me to add an extra 40 minutes of walking to my day.  There are times when the walk is mostly silent, and times when the walk is mostly me fussing, cajoling, and harassing her along, but most of the time we have all kinds of interesting conversations.

Yesterday Pinkie Pie asked me why prices don't include tax.  She thought that it would be much easier if all listed prices just included tax because that way we would actually know what we are going to pay for things.

Oh boy do I have a rant for that!  I told her that there are places in the world where this is true, it is a far better system, and she was completely right that it makes it easier for customers.

I have a tricky line to walk here.  I want to let her know that she is right and had a good idea, but I also want to let her know the reality that lots of people have had this idea and it isn't being implemented for stupid reasons.

The lesson that there are many good ways to change our society and they often don't happen because people are shortsighted, selfish, or just terrified of change is a necessary one.  It isn't a happy one though, obviously.

"Yeah, good idea!  But of course like many good ideas it will be crushed under the weight of assholes and fools.  Welcome to humanity."

A week ago we were talking about homelessness and how society should cope with it.  Pinkie Pie suggested building a huge hotel and just inviting all the homeless people to live there.  The intention is noble, but that actual implementation is not particularly feasible.  I talked to her about the best approach that I am currently aware of - building simple, one room dwellings and just letting homeless people live in them.  It grants a lot more privacy, safety, and autonomy than many other solutions and is far cheaper than housing the homeless in hospitals and jails, which is often the place they end up at the moment.

Pinkie Pie didn't like my solution and really wanted to build a hotel for the homeless people.  Sure, fine, her heart is in the right place, and she has plenty of years yet to learn that some solutions, while logistically feasible, are not politically plausible.

So Pinkie Pie is learning about economics and social services on our walks.  I, on the other hand, am becoming much more familiar with just how terrible the Percy Jackson movies were compared to the books.  Hela's island was done completely wrong, don't you know.

It turns out I don't know.  But I am learning!

1 comment:

  1. I find it ironic that goods where taxes are included (Ex: Gas/Alcohol/Cigarettes), I wish that it was visible how much of the price was taxes. I would find it easier to understand that when Oil prices drop by 50% that gasoline prices are not drastically cut because they are mostly taxes to pay for road construction and maintenance. Or that if I am concerned about the prices of cigarettes that lobbying my politicians to eliminate "Sin taxes" would be an appropriate plan.

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