It's The Stupid Economy

I’m sure you remember that catch phrase used during the election campaign of one of our illustrious former presidents: “It’s the economy, stupid!”

Well, whenever I think about our attempt to live in a perpetual state of financial growth, I wonder if the phrase shouldn’t be changed to: “It’s the stupid economy!”.

One example that chaps my hide (or my hands, as the case may be) is the simple paper towel.

Now, paper towels are a really convenient and sanitary way to dry one’s hands. However, where I work, the people who replace the towels in those metal dispensers have recently changed to a super thin paper towel. The only reason I can imagine is that the new towel is either cheaper to make, thereby obstensibly increasing profits for the manufacturer, or decreasing cost for the janitorial service. In practice, however, we who must use the new towels are continually frustrated with their lack of quality in both strength and absorption. The predictable result is that many more paper towels are used (or wasted) than before. Where formerly one or two towels sufficed, I now regularly observe folks using a handful of towels to perform the same task. Moreover, the towels rip so easily that the floor around the dispensers is constantly littered with bits of paper.

I wonder what the world would be like if our basis for decision-making was “What is the right thing to do?”, rather than “How can we make the most money?”