What People Want

It is tempting to downplay the influence of social culture and lifestyles. However, social culture and lifestyles are expressions of how and what people are thinking. Human behavior is determined by how and what people are thinking.

This is a complex process involving the interaction of a vast number of forces. The forces may not be rational and seldom are they coordinated. It is difficult, if not impossible to detect all the forces in play at any given time and to understand every aspect of their influence.

Government policies don't lead, they follow. And they often get it wrong depending on how far they are behind the leading edge of the curve. It should be no surprise that government policies often work at cross purposes to each other. There are policies that support inappropriate goals and many policies have no bearing upon their intended purpose.

A good example is health care. People seek financial security and they fear the strain and hardship of an illness. But they are more interested in good health than insurance, especially when it costs so much.