What are the most counterproductive doings of our society?

I am trying to write a thesis and look for inspirations. Here are a couple I have:


1. Manicured lawns instead native wild flowers - responsible for huge enviromental damages and sustaining large amounts of illegals.


2. Cars and Suv's with Motor technology from 1930, instead modern motors with high mileage - huge enviromental impact, sustains arab terror, uses non renewable resources, makes Detroit incapable of world wide competition.


3. Clear cutting instead of selective cutting - not sustainable, huge enviromental damages


Can you add one? Thanks!

What are the most counterproductive doings of our society?
Runaway consumerism, Chinese imports of everything from US flags to rubber monster toys, rampant energy dependency while firing up hair dryers and moving to hotter climates to increase air-conditioner / comfort dependency, 'out-sourcing' of consumer products, RV and other gas guzzling automobiles, distributing free commodities and providing cradle-to-grave dental and health care benefits to Native American reservations where they frequently are merely supplements to personal wealth because of tribal casinos, encouraging tribal members to stay on reservations by and assuming responsibility for themselves by providing financial incentives through reservation grants [while the tribes claim 'sovereignty' on those reservations]





Placing our resources into building prisons, proliferating court personnel, and attorney welfare systems, more police, equipment and violation of property by pursuing a War on Drugs and prosecuting victimless crimes that's only assured higher prices and more drugs on the streets while corrupting the criminal justice system.





ICC discouraging rail transport by setting uncompetitive freight-hauling rates, while encouraging long-haul trucking [to pay for the Interstate Highway system, initially, and later to pay for the damage trucks do to the highways].





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Reply:i think the biggest enemy to our productivity is government intervention in the economy. Things such as free trade restriction, subsidies, taxes... you get the idea. Lately I've been watching a PBS television special called Free To Choose, made by the renowned economist Milton Friedman. It sure will give u plenty of ideas of counterproductive measures that exist in our society.
Reply:actually watching celebrity gossip television shows and celebrity news. That alone wastes at least 20-30 minutes of everyone's time every day. If there are 110,000,000 people in our country alone watching or listening to 25 minutes of this garbage per day: that amounts to over 73,333 hours of waster time per day, 513,333 hours per week, 26,693,333 hours of wasted time per year for one country. I catch the news at 5pm and at 10pm and they spend at least 5-6 minutes each broadcast: that's 12 minutes per day of my time. I read the paper on lunch at work 2-3 minutes skimming thru the celeb news(don't know why i do that). I also hear it on the radio or from friends or famil - another 10 minutes per day. So 25 minutes per day/per person is not unrealistic. If the world spent 5 minutes per day the totals would still be incredible. Put those hours into cancer research, aids cure, trying to solve peace around the world and imagine the world we'd live in.
Reply:4. drug dealing and welfare scamming instead of working at a legitimate job - undermines the entire fabric of society.


5. affirmative action instead of meritocracy - destroys incentive on the part of "minorities" to work hard, and prevents deserving whites from securing jobs, scholarships, promotions, etc.