Social Engineering and the Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Engineering and the Law - Essay Example But for every good example there are likely to be bad ones. In Canada, the government used to take away Native children from their families and educate them in residential schools. The idea was to try to acculturate the children by teaching them better English and making it easier for them to be absorbed into the White population. Instead of working, this example of social engineering created a lot of unhappiness and misery. The government has since apologized for its policy which is widely seen as a failure. Part of the problem is that a law is a very broad thing and it is hard to account for individual differences when you plan to change people’s behavior. It is a bit like trying to perform surgery with a sledge hammer. Nevertheless politicians continue to push for social engineering because the idea is often popular at first blush. Currently one of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s big ideas is to introduce a Fairness Doctrine as law.1 This would make it legally necessary for radio stations to have an equal amount of political time for each side of the political spectrum—instead of just putting on shows that people or the market want. If this law comes into effect it may make people more left-wing (as a lot of talk radio is now conservative). This might be a smart political move: socially engineering more Democratic voters would result in larger majorities in the House and Senate! Usually politics is at the heart of plans to change people’s behavior en masse. Although I do not generally like the idea of social engineering, as you may observe from my above statements, if I were told I could socially engineer anything I would think long and hard. One of the ways many politicians try to alter behavior is by changing the tax rates. If I could do anything I would implement a law creating a flat tax. The current tax system is called a â€Å"progressive† system. The more money that you make the more tax you must pay. On the face of it