Paved with Good Intentions

I'm beginning this edition from Love Field, Dallas, TX. I'm sitting underneath one of many speakers blaring Southwest Airlines' near-constant announcements. My God, it's noisy.

I've been in this same damn airport all over the country. It's architecturally uninspired. It's harshly lit. It's all right angles of concrete, glass, and steel-- the perfect noise-box. It's loud enough to make me not want to think.

Love him or hate him, it's hard to completely discredit Tucker Carlson's observation:

How did we get here?

Why did we get here?

Some see a dark, directly coordinated effort to trample the human spirit for economic, political, and social control by “the powers that be.” Some see the debasement of our public spaces (the airport, DMV, your "big box store," post office, new office tower downtown, etc.) as a grim, unintended consequence in the wake of the vast devastation of 20th-century warfare.

I see Love Field, par exemple, as the unintended afterbirth of the Atomic Age.

We now know we can destroy ourselves and our planet wholly, swiftly, and remotely—a blip on a screen. We now must spend our intellect, time, and money building weapons to protect us from other weapons that can destroy for us. It’s as if we’ve clicked a huge, unseen switch from “creation” to “destruction” mode on the socio-cultural dial.

Why celebrate humanity by building beautiful buildings?

Something that lasts?

Where was the last inspiring, proper public space you've been?

When was it built?

The two World Wars left behind an aesthetic of drop ceilings, halogen lights, and sheetrock--fast, cheap, and safe (in that order).

The rest of this edition presents a news item and business problem that explores the philosophy of unintended consequence. We've got art, updates, and ramblings too. Enjoy.

Prima Parte : Philosophy on News?

https://www.dhirubhai.net/news/story/california-wage-hike-takes-effect-5951540/

A new California law, which went into effect on April 1st, will raise the minimum wage for the state's fast food workers to $20 per hour next year.?This measure aims to help counter-balance the high cost of living in the state while acknowledging that many of the half-million employees in the industry are adults supporting families rather than teens with part-time jobs.?

Fast-food franchise owners are protesting the wage increase, pointing to the direct consequences: restaurants will have to raise customer-prices, lay off workers, and offer significantly reduced hours to those on staff.

Whether or not you agree with the wage increase law on the balance of its benefits versus direct consequences (there is always such balance), what will be interesting to monitor are the indirect consequences of this law.

One emerging indirect consequence (see?Cambridge definition) is how this wage hike could impact California public schools, forcing districts to compete with McDonald's, Wendy's, etc., for cafeteria workers amid a state budget crunch.

The demand for school meals is higher than ever in California, the first state to guarantee free meals for all students regardless of their family's income. That being the case, school cafeterias typically have high employee turnover and need help to attract and retain workers at the district's pay scale.?

As an unintended consequence, the minimum wage boost for fast food workers could make?keeping school cafeterias adequately staffed?to meet demand even more challenging.?

Robert K. Merton, often cited as the founding father of modern sociology, explored how intended actions by individuals or institutions can lead to unforeseen outcomes in his "The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action" (Merton, 1936).?

He highlights the complexity of social systems, where actions to achieve specific goals can produce unintended consequences.?

The paper identifies five sources of unplanned consequences. The first two, and most pervasive, are "ignorance" and "error."?

Merton's third source, however, the "imperious immediacy of interest," would chiefly substantiate his disagreement with California's fast-food minimum wage increase. By that, he referred to instances in which an individual wants the intended consequence of an action so much that one?purposefully chooses to ignore?any unintended effects (this type of willful ignorance is very different from genuine ignorance).

Merton would postulate that California's Democratic political leadership is well aware of the potential indirect consequences of this wage increase (as already being reported on) but so much wants the direct political gain (securing votes, placating lobbies, and yes, humanely helping front-line workers meet rising living expenses), that it is willfully and actively turning a blind eye to knock-on mal effects.

Seconda Parte: Your Philosophy is Your Business

You logged out and logged back in, and you rechecked it. Your commission check can't be that number. It's noticeably more than you’ve earned. It isn't life-changing money per se, but a 150%-to-goal bonus payment is much nicer than what you anticipated to be 100%-to-goal. There must be a mistake here. They must be double-counting a deal.?

What should I do? Do I tell someone in payroll? My boss, maybe? Do I say anything at all-- banking error in my favor??

Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher and giant of the Enlightenment, helps guide the correct response to this situation, one that's come up in my career more than once.?

Kant's "categorical imperative" emphasizes the importance of acting based on universal principles of morality, regardless of any anticipated or unintended consequences.

In this case, informing the appropriate parties about the discrepancy aligns with Kant's principle of treating others as ends in themselves rather than merely as a means to an end.

As Kant famously stated in his "Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals:"

"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." (Kant, 1785).

By reporting the payment error, you uphold the principle that honesty and integrity should govern all actions in your company. Kantian ethics support the decision to disclose the error, as it adheres to the universal moral imperative of honesty and accountability.

Parte Terza

Here's a list of any new, notable reading, art, and media on my desk with a short commentary:

Books:

“The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov: This is one of my favorite books ever written. A third re-read for me, but getting a richer and more layered experience of the text with each time through. I’m particularly fascinated with Bulgakov’s Pontius Pilate character and how he thinly veneers a Soviet kommissar.

Art:

A good friend sent me some beautiful photos of Andy Warhol first edition prints on display in a museum in Alpine, TX. Who knew Warhol had a Western phase!

Media:

Baseball is back! I’ve been appreciating the return of the boys of summer this past week. The Yankees look good this season and the Mets, very bad. All is right in the world.

My second team, the Oakland A’s, will have a new home in Sacramento, CA for a handful of years starting next season. I’ve got to get out to the Bay for a last game at the Coliseum

Parte Quatra

• Check out my?YouTube channel?for ongoing videos in my series on "Catholicism: A Complete Introduction." Four lectures have been posted so far, with a fifth soon to come! We're in the thick of unpacking?"Catholicism—The Basics."
• The second Your Philosophy Your Business content series on Don Miguel Ruiz's "The Four Agreements" continues! My LinkedIn page will host?written posts?and short videos (YouTube for unedited, longer takes).
• Did you miss the first YPYB content series? It was a treatment of my Nine Principles of Stoicism, and you can find it by tracking back on my LinkedIn page or more easily here on?Substack.?
• You can subscribe to my?Substack?for extra written content on "Your Philosophy Your Business."

Parte Quinta

I’m finishing this writing from high in the Rocky Mountains, Steamboat Springs, CO. It’s snowing. The mountains tower grey-white majestic all around me. Of course, Ansel Adams, the American master landscape photographer comes to mind:

Riferimenti

Aid Reimagined, “The philosophy of unintended consequences.” https://medium.com/aidreimagined/the-philosophy-of-unintended-consequences-1c7e5e709292

Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Translated by Mary Gregor, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Merton, Robert K. "The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action." American Sociological Review, vol. 1, no. 6, 1936, pp. 894-904.

Norton, Rob. “Unintended Consequences.” https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/french/unintconseq.html