Cause of Bad Manners

Some sociology professor (need I go on) last week said rudeness and boorishness are increasing in New Zealand society and blamed it on the economic reforms of the 1980s. Yes seriously he did.

Phil Rennie replies in the NZ Herald that he had often looked for excuses for his rudeness and he had never thought of blaming Roger Douglas and David Lange.

Phil quotes British Labour MP Frank Field who is an anti-poverty campaigner and he blames the welfare state for a decline in the ethic of respect and the rise of Britain’s yob culture.

His rationale is that behaviour worsens when people know they won’t have to take responsibility for their actions, because they know that the state will support and reward them, no matter what.

This is a well documented phenomena. In economics studies of insurance especially for example one sees behavior change significantly due to insurance which insulates people from consequences of certain actions.