Put the rubber on...

Last night, I was walking home from the subway station, and I noticed something. While I was walking down the street, I saw that the curb, where a car was not parked, was covered in rubber. I immediately assumed this was from cars attempting to parallel park and consequently bumping the curb with their tires. Often times you'll see people's rims and hubcaps all scratched up, and this is from being bad at parallel parking, they'll scrape the curb. So I thought, why not make the curb out of rubber? And, while we're at it, make the road out of rubber as well? Aren't you tired of running around the street, and tripping, falling and scraping your knees and elbows? Well, I think it's about time we move on from this scummy, hard, abrasive asphalt that we've so apathetically used. The rubber streets would be much easier to clean, safer for kids, and tires could be engineered to have much better traction.

If a politician were to propose this idea, he would tell you, you deserve to move on from the norm, that this is a better technology, and you won't have to pay a dime in tax money for it, as he or she is desperate to gain votes and be elected just to serve their own vanity. Well, rubber in this quantity is not cheap, I'm sure of that, so I hope this politician can pay for it on their own. So, let's say this politician gets elected, proposes this bill mandating that all roads shall be made out of rubber, and it passes. Soon, this politician will realize, "oh, this DOES cost tax payer's money, sorry folks, I lied." But, the bill has already been passed, and the mandate must be followed. So, people get their rubber streets in the summer, when most road construction is done. And, they love it, because everything the politician promised about the quality of the roads was true, so they don't care if it cost them money.

Then comes the fall season, increasing the potential for rain. When the rain hits, this smooth, rubber surface becomes slick, and accidents happen. Accidents involving people of all socioeconomic classes, also including business transports, and even federal transportation. So now, the citizens demand that something be done, and politicians agree. The politicians, that can't figure out why this happened in the first place, as the rubber was working so well, decide not to repeal the rubber mandate, but decide to keep the rubber roads, and come up with a solution to save their roads. Now, remember this problem is country-wide, affecting all people, so a solution is imminent, and politicians feel the pressure to act fast. Many of the citizens may be clammoring for taking up all the rubber, because they knew it was a bad idea in the first place, but politicians, attempting to save their own ass and not to admit they wasted the taxpayers' money before, call those people shortsighted and uneducated about the situation.

The politicians, of all parties, now group together and form one party, at least for the time being. The solution they come to is that they need to enact a government project to create a ceiling over all roads, to prevent precipitation from falling and potentially causing accidents. Also in this proposed bill, shop owners and other people won't be able to clean off their sidewalks by spraying it down with the hose, because water is not allowed to touch the rubber, ever. Now, the citizens know that this idea is really bad, and is going to cost them tons of money, so the majority do not want this to happen. But the politicians argue that it is essential for their safety, and all band together to pass this bill, as they're "putting aside their political differences" in the name of public safety and prosperity. So, they pass this bill, ironically against the voters' (by whom they were elected) wishes, and cost the taxpayers' even more money to support a government program that was created "just because" something had to be done.

Now, let's look at the industries that would benefit, and those that would be hurt. The beneficiaries are clear; the rubber industry, as a spike in demand rises, they could demand a premium price and turn their greatest profit ever (though your politician may argue that because you're buying this rubber in bulk, at a higher volume than ever before, this "pooled" demand will actually cause a decrease in price- this just serves as proof he or she doesn't understand economics), and also the politicians because they think they saved their asses by "fixing" a problem that they'd created. Industries that would be hurt though, are not so evident. The bandage industry would take a hit, because kids would no longer be scraping their knees and elbows. Car parts shops would also take a hit, because they wouldn't be selling as many rims or hubcaps, or even as many tires, because the wear and tear wouldn't be as vigorous on the slick new roads. Also, as a result of the increase in the price of rubber, sports such as hockey, tennis, raquetball, lacrosse, basketball, and many others that use rubber products would become much more expensive. Hockey pucks, could jump from $2 per, to $15-20 per, given the ridiculous demand. Not to mention even the other consumer products that use rubber, the prices would also spike if they continued to use rubber instead of finding a replacement.


Basically what this story comes down to, is that no matter how well intentioned a government program may be, there are terrible, unintended consequences. And, the pride of politicians makes it "hard" to repeal programs such as these, even though everyone knows it's a terrible idea after it happens. The way that the government chooses to resolve these problems is by creating more programs, which cause more problems, and the "need" for more government programs. The government should just let the market be, and allow it to make decisions for itself, as any sort of restriction or government mandate can create an enormous mess, even though in the short term they may work fantastically.