to get a kindle?? just joshing.
Freakonomics, I picked it up when I was out and read the first chapter, have now ordered it as it was so totally off the wall. But it made me think. Really think quite deeply about society, cause and effect, morality, social responsibility etc.
disclaimer< none of the views in the book are ones I hold.
First chapter was about murder rates in the USA. They were disproportionately high amongst teenagers. Bill Clinton instructed a load of committees and think tanks to tackle this. A lot of proposals were put forward and implemented. A leading economist/stistician said this wouldnt work and murder rates would continue to rise and there would be a melt down of a lawless society within 15 years. It would be Armagheddon.
That didn't happen. The unprecedented rise continued for 13-15 years then teenage committed murder fell away to an all time low over night.
According to the author of Freakonomics no one actually looked at a significant change in the law. A lady (whos name I sadly forget) took the State of Texan and eventually the whole USA to court for the right to abortions. (I hadn't realised they were uniformly illegal until the 1980s) and she won. The lady in question came from a dirt poor back ground, was illiterate, bare education, a drug addict and had already had two babies taken from her and adopted. Thus she wanted the right to abortion. (no welfare state as we know it)
She was successful in getting the law changed, not in time for herself and her third baby was taken and adopted. But she allowed other women the right to seek legal abortions.
The author suggested (with other statistical data) that the sterotype of woman who sought abortions came from the same back ground as the lady who managed to get the law changed.
It was the same social economic background that produced the majority of teen murderers.
Therefore it was his conclusion that abortion actually stopped violent crime rising, because you had prevented that socio-economic group from "being" (it was done in a very non judgemental way).
This isnt't a benefits slag off thread, nor a pro/anti abortion thread - more of a what the hell has society become if we cannot competantly educate and pass moral compass across all strata sort of thread.
Not sure what my AIBU is - more of a 'are we all guilty of sitting back and letting things spiral out of control', I think.