The Principle of Unintended Consequences

A few months ago my neighbor’s teenage son was taking two of his friends to town. Wanting to display his driving skill and the power of the new SUV, he accelerated rapidly down our gravel road. About a hundred yards from their driveway, he lost control and hit an electrical pole, Knocking out about a four foot long section. The top of the pole then settled on top of the vehicle.

Obviously the boy had no intention of hitting the pole, but it was an unexpected consequence of his decision to show off. Other consequences were the ticket he got for reckless driving, not being able to take the car to school until it was fixed, and his family having to give up a vacation over spring break due to the damage to the car.

The boy only intended to impress his friends, and did not consider what possible other consequences could occur. Unfortunately, it is not just kids who act without considering other consequences. When congress took over GM and Chrysler to bail them out, no consideration was given.

Because of their financial straits, the two companies were expected to lay off around 20,000 employees. Thanks to the number of layoffs elsewhere, it was determined that this would have serious economic consequences, so both companies were taken over by the U.S. government. Under the terms of the takeover, most existing stock was simply declared worthless, and title accrued to the government. In a special agreement with the Union, stocks held by the 60,000 member UAW retirement fund would be honored.

Unintended consequences of the action included a huge increase in the Federal deficit, 2000 local dealerships were closed, seriously affecting many communities, and more than 120,000 nonunion jobs were lost. In addition, many retirement funds lost their entire investment in GM or Chrysler stock which would have only lost a portion even had they taken bankruptcy. To top it all off, taxes paid by those who lost their entire savings, and those who had no part in the company were used for the bailout, taking money away from other areas.

Ford Motor Company was in the same condition, but refused to submit to Federal takeover, with the result that while there was a temporary layoff, their investors have recouped almost all their losses, and no jobs have been permanently eliminated. The unintended consequences of the bailout have been far worse than the initial problem would have been.

Had there been any effort to look beyond the immediate result desired, possible consequences could have been seen, and action to prevent them would have been simple. By not accelerating so vigorously, the boy could have avoided hitting the power pole, avoiding all the subsequent consequences. By handling the bailout differently, at least 100,000 more people would have jobs, and there would be 2000 more local businesses operating. Over a million investors would still have part of their investment, and some other government programs would still have funding, even if they had done nothing.

Many times we take positions as Christians without considering the consequences as well. If we refuse to acknowledge our sin, we declare God to be a liar, as I John 1:10 tells us. “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” A lady wrote that no intelligent person would choose to go to hell, yet many refuse to believe in Jesus Christ, and John 3:36 declares, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” They have not deliberately chosen to go to hell, they have just ignored the consequences of not believing.

If we decide that Baptism is essential for salvation, then Paul’s statement in Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” is false, and all Paul’s writings are suspect.

Teaching that if the wife is obeying her husband, only he will be punished for wrong doing takes away the personal responsibility of the wife before God. Teaching the church that they will be okay as long as they do what the pastor says takes away all personal responsibility, and makes the pastor the head of the Church, rather than Christ.

We need to examine the consequences of what we choose to believe. A false conclusion can only result from a false premise, so the consequences indicate the validity of our belief.