In Pittsburg, California, the wind used to hit our 2-story house and it sounded like a car running in to the side of the house. “BOOM”, when it would hit, and then you’d hear the sound as it would rush by.
Today I experienced that here for the first time. I was in my studio, and suddenly, “BOOM”, and then the door, which wasn’t shut all the way, creaked open.
When I went out to run some errands, I noticed one yard being cleared of its leaves by the wind. I thought that would be cool if all the leaves from my yard made their way to some abandoned field.
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Time to editorialize…
I noticed the liberals jumping all over the fame of Malala Yousafzai, the young lady from Pakistan who is pushing for the education of women. Right off the bat, let me state I think this young lady is amazing, brave and intelligent.
The problem is, the politicians in this country who are parading Malala Yousafzai’s accomplishments are the same ones that try to regulate such behavior through law.
It is one thing to pass a law declaring discrimination is illegal, but it is another thing to require quotas – something the Democrats are quite good at.
Any time we try to regulate or force people to behave a certain way, it is going to backfire. Look at prohibition. Yeah, avoiding alcohol is always a good idea, but forcing people to that standard, isn’t.
In any event, I find it scary when Nancy Peolosi starts parading Malala Yousafzai around as a poster child for women’s education.
Oh, speaking of discrimination, I recently saw an ad, “Wanted, photographer’s assistant. Must be a good-looking young woman.”
Really? With the Equal Opportunity Employment Laws, someone would actually post that in an ad?
Wow, I think even on Craig’s list, they have you check a box that you agree to follow the law and not post any jobs that discriminate.
Of course, I’ve been to these events, fairs and tradeshows where the booze companies have their booth. They always have a big crowd. No, they aren’t giving away free booze. In fact, I’m not sure if they give away anything because I avoid them. But, they always seem to have scantily clad women and all the guys are trying to get close enough to talk to them.
You never see a size 2x woman in their booth, and you might see one guy standing in the background like a bouncer. Nobody is attempting to talk to him.
So, I wonder if a 5’8″ man, bald, weighing 250 pounds were to apply for the job of working in their booth if he’d have a snowball’s chance in hell in getting it?
A long time ago, I worked for a company where one of the supervising managers was visibly upset. After work, I asked him, “Something bothering you?”
He explained he was told he had to lay off one of his designers. He told human resources the decision was easy. He gave them the name of the guy and stated, “He’s my lowest producer.”
The H.R. guy came back and told him, he can lay off anyone except that guy. When he asked why he couldn’t lay him off since it really didn’t do a very good job, he was told he couldn’t because the guy was a minority and that would put his department below quota.
You see, sometimes we turn a blind-eye to discrimination because of what the public wants. (Case-in-point: The booze tradeshow booth.) Other times, we’re told to conform because of laws that are meant to do good, but hurt productivity in the end. (Case-in-point: Co-working have to let go a good performer because the bad performer was a minority.)
You can’t legislate good behavior. Malala Yousafzai’s behavior wasn’t regulated by Pakistani law by any means. In fact, many see her as a rebel in Pakistan. And, if you try to legislate that sort of behavior, it only backfires.
I saw this all the time in the corporate world. A manager would make a rule trying to drive good behavior. Instead, the workers would find ways around them. If you tell someone production has to increase by 20% in the next month, they will find a way to fudge the numbers to meet the goal. If you tell someone the average phone call needs to be under 3 minutes, they will hang up on customers in 2 minutes and 50 seconds. One of the most common problems with people on time clocks is they get other people to punch them in or out. The list goes on.
There are a lot of people who don’t drive fast on public roads because they know it is dangerous. There are a lot of people who don’t smoke because they know it will kill you. There are a lot of people who treat everyone with respect because they know they too are children of God. They know this stuff because someone taught them correctly.
I like how Joseph Smith, Junior, stated it in an interview with Daniel Webster, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.”
Let PARENTS teach their children correctly so they can govern themselves. Let parents teach their children that education has no color or gender. Let parents teach their children that ability out ranks privilege. Let parents teach their children to stand up against coercion no matter what form it takes. Government can’t teach people to behave correctly, it can only try to control behavior.
