Newton’s Third Law of Motion is, to paraphrase, that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This law of physics also applies to actions made by organizations, either public or private and is commonly referred to as the Law of Unintended Consequences.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see this Law in motion when I was flying across the country. My trip consisted of two flights with a short lay over in between. As you probably know, most airlines have started to charge for checked baggage on flights. I can understand how initially this makes sense from a business perspective. The initial price of the ticket is fairly low, but then you can tack on other fees for baggage, not to mention other ‘extras’ that used to be free like meals, snacks, drinks, pillows, etc., and then you have effectively raised the price of the ticket while keeping the perception of lower prices.
During preboarding of both of my flights, announcements were made begging passengers to please check in baggage at the gate for no charge because there wasn’t room for the carry-on luggage for all of the passengers. One flight was actually held up while the flight attendants arranged the overhead bins to fit as much in as possible.
This got me thinking about how the government seems to be surprised by the unintended consequences of its actions. Take the news that several major corporations took a hit on their
books for perceived future losses from the passing of the healthcare bill, for example. Members of the current administration seemed shocked by this news as if the projected increase in costs occur in a vacuum.
Or, take the current oil situation in the gulf. (As a side note, I refuse to call it a ’spill’. What part of what happened even comes close to resembling a spill? Maybe ‘oil leak’ is better?) There are those who condemn BP, and with good reason, and there are those who want to blame various other organizations some for political gain and some for other reasons both good and not so good. One group often overlooked includes environmentalists. Ironically, by pushing the offshore drilling so far out into deep waters, they have unintentionally contributed to the mess we have today.
When you see a bill passed, a new policy enacted, or an organization make a change, do what most people fail to do and consider what the unintended consequences could be before you decide where you stand on the issue.