Coldly Assessing Reality: I Blame Econ 101

I had a little structure to my education.  I started with Catholic nuns in grade school.  I moved on to Jesuit priests in high school.  My childhood was in the Reagan, Top Gun era and, like so many others, I dreamed of becoming a navy pilot. That led me to cap off my rather regimented education by attending a federal military academy.  I was enthusiastic.  I was patriotic.  I was idealistic. I was wrong on so many levels.

In my first post, I discussed how my whole perspective regarding democracy and majority rule changed.  It was one of a handful of educational turning points for me.  I had no idea that that moment was only setting me up for the true mind fuck mental adjustment caused by Economics 101.  The world before that course was The Matrix.  Taking that class, I swallowed the red pill, and my perception would never be the same again. 

Minimum wage laws, rent controls, unions, taxes, licenses, and drug laws were all things that I'd been taught to respect.  Now I look at them as hindrances to the beauty of equilibrium with consequences that were contrary to their intent.  To this day, a mental supply and demand curve appears in my mind when I am faced with an issue.  I can see the affect an action will have on price; the consequences we'll all face due to a new policy.  Professor Katz, sometimes I dream I'd swallowed the blue pill so that I could not see these things.  I could've happily continued in life feeling that my ideals were justified for their intent.  I could relish in the joy of an emotional argument based upon a concept of fairness without recognizing the consequences to the larger system.  Instead, you gave me knowledge; something you can never be free without.  Economics put me in Zion.  It's uglier than life in the matrix, but I'd rather be informed.