Morons abound

One of my theories as to why our society is going backwards is that there are too many people acting like morons and failing to think for themselves. Morons simply do not know what they are doing. They do not know their own business.

This is simple stuff. If you need to drive a car, then learn to drive. If you need to vote, then learn how to vote. If you need to work as a shop assistant, then learn what is required to do that job.

My "moron of the day" award was all set to go to these New Zealand morons:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/column/story.cfm?c_id=702&objectid=10435764

On Thursday Louisa Merceanu and her friends were going to the Waiwera hot pools to celebrate her 13th birthday. "On the way we stopped at the Pak'n Save supermarket in Albany to buy some picnic food for our trip. My friends and I bought some food, fizzy and ice and went to the checkout. The checkout operator asked us for ID because we were buying ice. Initially we thought he was joking, but he called the supervisor and she confirmed that we needed ID because the ice is stored in the alcohol section. We had to go and get my Dad who assured them that he was over 18 and was allowed to purchase the ice. We sure had a good laugh but is this madness or what?"

So children are banned from buying frozen water in New Zealand. That is clearly "moron award" material.

But I saw 5 minutes of the nightly news and heard the following story.
A woman was in a supermarket and saw a thief snatch her bag and stuff her wallet into his pants. She grabbed the thief and called out to the shop assistants for some assistance. These shop assistants told her that they were not able to apprehend thieves and so instead of doing this they escorted the suspect out of the store and let him go free. The woman called the police who arrested the suspect in a nearby store shortly afterward. A policewoman was interviewed and said that all citizens, including shop assistants, are entitled to make a citizen's arrest in a case such as this.

My take on today's happenings: The "moron of the day" award goes to the Australian shop assistants who escorted the thief from the premises. The police should charge each of these morons with being an accessory to the theft.

How stupid can people be? What is next? A person collapses in a shop aisle and the shop assistants don't ring 000 because they are not allowed to make phone calls while on duty. The shopper dies. It is going to happen one day.

It all goes to show a few things.
Firstly, there is often an existing law to do a thing. We do not always need new laws to be written. These morons can be charged under an existing law, and this could serve as an example to people.

Second thing it shows is that many people act like morons and do not know the simplest things about doing their job. Morons like this are dangerous enough when working in a store. They are much more dangerous when driving cars, working as teachers, or govt officials, or police. Here is what can happen.

Man charged with 'unauthorised use of milk crate'
May 21 2003
New York: Jesse Taveras, 19, stepped out for a breather from the hair-braiding salon where he works and sat down on a plastic milk crate that happened to be on the footpath.
A New York City police officer on the Grand Concourse, a main boulevard in the borough of the Bronx, walked up to Taveras and wrote him a ticket citing him for "unauthorised use of a milk crate".
The infraction can carry a fine of up to $US105 ($A161).
As he told the story to the New York Daily News, Taveras was incredulous.
"I don't believe this," he told the cop, identified only as police officer Payan.
Payan asked Taveras for identification, radioed his name to the local precinct to check for outstanding warrants, found none and gave him the ticket.

If you were ever in a spot of bother and needed a policeman to help you, how would you feel about relying on such a moron as this ticket-writer? Does scum such as this have what it takes to deal justly with any incident where any level of judgment is needed (such as a rowdy crowd)? I don't think so.

Morons are especially dangerous in the voting booth. Morons clearly do not know their own business, yet they eagerly poke their nose into other people's business when they vote-in politicians to write all kinds of bans, restrictions and regulations.

Sydney's Housing Disaster

Part 1 of this article is found at http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/2007/0420.html

Sydney's Housing Disaster

Sydney is suffering a housing crisis. Housing has become so expensive to buy or rent that many families cannot afford independent housing. In Sydney and most other places in Australia an average family can no longer afford to buy an average house.

In response to the crisis, many young adults have delayed moving out of their parents' homes, some younger buyers are pooling resources (eg two couples buy one house) and outright homelessness has increased with charities reporting record numbers of homeless people in Australia.

In crisis there is opportunity and landlords have responded by raising Sydney rents to a high percentage of average earnings, and by creating an unprecedented number of illegal half-houses to rent to people desperate for even half a house to live in.

Since Australia's population now exceeds 20 million, and we now have less than 100 acres of land per person, some people believe that this acute shortage of land is what has driven housing to unattainable prices for an average young family.

I think the housing crisis is not caused by a shortage of land, but by a shortage of govt permission to build houses. Govt has simply given permission to build fewer houses than are needed to house all the families here. It's that simple. It is a monumental failure by central planners.

This article is about more than just a planning problem in one city. It is about ignorance of markets and price, and the absurd things people believe about economics. I recommend the article to all readers with an interest in these things, particularly part 1.

The housing crisis in Sydney is duplicated throughout the world where similar views and policies are found. Every Australian capital city is affected, as are parts of New Zealand, the United Kingdom and parts of the USA. I recommend this entire article to all readers who are concerned for poorer families struggling to pay for housing in these places.
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