The unintended consequences of social engineering
May 10, 2009
This subject has been approached from several angles like the projects creating criminal and drug refuges to welfare creating a permanent underclass. I would like to expose another unintended consequence that will be appearing in the future.
I started thinking about a new rule the NCAA is studying to impose which requires colleges to interview at least 1 minority candidate. On the surface this appears to be a no-brainer. Actually, I am surprised such a rule does not exist; after all, the NFL adopted the ‘Rooney Rule’ in the eighties. I would have expected the NCAA to adopt a similar rule by now. I always forget the NCAA is the epitome of the good ‘ol boy’s networks that allows nepotism to penetrate every level of the bureaucracy or hypocrisy. This new rule is aimed at helping black candidates receive consideration for top coaching jobs at top schools.
The hitch in the step is, if estimates are correct, the Hispanic population will be the majority ethnic/racial ancestry in the next 10 to 20 years. Imposing this rule and similar civil rights rules will require potential employers to include white coaches in there searches and hiring practices or face sanctions. What effect will this rule have at the traditionally black schools (you know, the fact that we have what are referred to as traditionally black colleges and the black college football championship spits in the face of civil rights reform. Think about it, if the ivy-league champion was named the traditionally white college champion, there would be a protest or two. I just don’t understand why the moniker of traditionally black school has not been changed.) Will Grambling be required to have a white coach? It depends on how the rule is written and whether the rule is evenly enforced.
You know the path to destruction is paved with good intentions. I do not question the intent of the NCAA but the NCAA, as the rest of society does, need to be careful when engaging in social engineering. It tends to lead to bad unintended consequences. Urban planners of the 1950’s to today decided to create housing projects in urban centers near manufacturing centers for low income people. This effort created a segregated area of low income people in a poor job market in the 1970’s. These areas had higher unemployment rates leading to crime and dysfunctional society. The intent was well placed and the idea was well meaning but the outcome was unforeseen and unfortunate.
It is very difficult to predict how a complex system will react when an artificial stimulus is added. All complex systems behave chaotically and it’s the nature of chaos which makes it hard to predict outcomes from stimulus. The environmental field has several examples of trying to stimulate a system or engineer a complex system and not foreseeing the trap that lies ahead. Anyone remember rabbits in Australia????
The Green Elephant
