Simply put, “Utilitarianism can lead to unintended consequences that bring upon more suffering”(Mosser, 2014, Kindle location: 5171). Sometimes trying to make something better can cause more harm than good. Our text explains that many times in history that government policy that was aimed to please the majority instead caused extreme pain and difficulty to the minority; for example, African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, homosexuals, or many others (Mosser, 2014, Kindle location: 5171).
I like to take this concept one step further to a more recent event in the farming industries that does not involve skin color. Does anyone remember the California drought of 2007? Seems too far ago? Not really because the families out west are still suffering from extreme activist who aimed to protect one species of smelt.
- In May 2007, a Federal District Court Judge ruled that increased amounts of water had to be re-allocated towards protecting the Delta smelt – a three-inch fish on the Endangered Species List. (CNR, 2014)
- Because of this ruling, in 2009 and 2010 more than 300 billion gallons (or 1 million acre-feet) of water were diverted away from farmers in the Central Valley and into the San Francisco Bay – eventually going out into the Pacific Ocean. (CNR, 2014)
- This man-made drought cost thousands of farm workers their jobs, inflicted up to 40 percent unemployment in certain communities, and fallowed hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile farmland. (CNR, 2014)
- Unemployment remains at a regional average of 17%. With current precipitation at near-record lows, the same regulations will be imposed pushing unemployment even higher. (CNR, 2014)
Yes, there is an issue of protecting wildlife, but instead of relocating a batch of this species elsewhere and expanding its population, the government has placed into policy to reroute water in order to save the fish (who have rights to exist) and destroy a community and the livelihood of many families in a destructible way that is not fixable without an non artificial water source.
References
Committee on Natural Resources (2014). The Man-Made California Drought. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved from: http://naturalresources.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=5921
Mosser, K. (2013). Understanding philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
The Cat's Meow 