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8/6/2008
Lasee: Bikes disappear. It's human nature.
Last week I wrote about the federal government and the socialization of risk. Taking 100’s of billions, if not trillions of our tax dollars and using it to “save” homeowners and “rescue” home lenders. This socialization of risk has spread throughout our society and can be seen in less costly ways, too.
Take for example, the Green Bay project lauded by the press, to make free bikes available for citizen’s use. It sounds so environmentally friendly. That makes people feel good. Fortunately, the program doesn’t cost much. They use lost and stolen bikes that would be auctioned off. Just some green paint and some time to repair the bikes.
Unfortunately, the truth is, that it hasn’t worked anywhere it has been tried, ever. (Regardless of the color the bikes are painted.) Sharing bikes only works if users are required to take some ownership or are held responsible in some way. It is just the way people are. People value things that are ours, over things that are someone else’s, that are free or that are owned by everybody and nobody.
When they first tried this in Amsterdam in 1968, the free white bikes ended up wrecked or in the canals. They tried it in Madison, the free red bikes ended up lost, wrecked or in the lake. The bikes disappear.
I don’t mean to be overcritical of the city of Green Bay. After all, these are people trying to do something positive, to make a difference (they had good motives, isn’t that enough?). The reality is, any project that ignores human nature is ill advised.
One of the ways Aldi grocery stores (a private company) have cut the cost of shopping is by requiring a deposit of a quarter to ensure that shopping carts are returned. Aldi’s doesn’t have to pay someone to collect the carts. Aldi’s works with human nature. Because their goal is to be different from the competition and make a profit, they work with consumers as they are, not the way they wish them to be.
As Green Bay re-evaluates their free Green Bike program, they should look at the forty-year history of programs like this—each program has discovered that people are people. When a possession is privately owned, people take care of it. When it is not, they don’t.
Madison’s Red Bike Program has now been privatized. A bicycle shop owns and operates the program. For a $60 fee, a bike and a lock are yours for 6 months. At the end of the time, the fee is returned, provided the bike is returned, in good condition.
In everything big and small, human nature must be recognized and understood. People are more careful (take less risk) with their own things, less careful with the things that are owned collectively. This is a fact collectivists often ignore.
Frank Lasee is a Republican and represents the 2nd Assembly District.
COMMENTS
During my time at UW-La Crosse we had tried a very similar program for college students. It was lauded as a great way for the students to get from place to place in the La Crosse area quickly. (The downtown is only about 1/2 mile from the campus and the riverfront about 3/4-1 mile.) Needless to say, almost 2/3 of the bikes were nicked within a week.
Now yes, some I'm sure were simply misplaced or accidentally left at home, but still far too many were stolen (or taken in a fit of frat-boy stupidity). It is a sad commentary that we, as a people, can't trust our fellow man with a program as simple as the green bikes.
Adam Delikowski (Wed Aug 06 10:36:43 2008)
I don't think it's a "sad commentary"; it's a realistic one. Private property is a cornerstone of a free society.
emily matthews (Wed Aug 06 10:43:04 2008)
Wouldn't it be great if a few good apples could restore a barrel of bad ones the way a few bad apples can destroy a barrel of good ones? I'm so weary of the free marketeers and their glaring hypocrisy. They gleefully point out that people are too immature to control their impulses to steal or destroy free shared bicycles, but in the next breath we are told to believe that businesses can regulate themselves. Theft and vandalism are crimes against property, whether that property is public or private. Since when is policy decided by throwing in the towel on respect for the law? Enough already. "It's human nature." What a bunch of baloney.
Joanne Roush (Wed Aug 06 12:44:04 2008)
Theft, vandalism, and self interest aren't human nature, they are just the nature of humans who lack character. A communal bicycle program would work fine if you could sort out troublemakers and keep them away. The trouble with this program is that our (fortunately) free society makes it easier for one or two people to ruin things for the other eight or nine.
Bikes disappear not because of human nature, but because of a handful of jerks.
Brian Bartel (Wed Aug 06 14:38:38 2008)
Joanne Roush
"I'm so weary of the free marketeers and their glaring hypocrisy. They gleefully point out that people are too immature to control their impulses to steal or destroy free shared bicycles, but in the next breath we are told to believe that businesses can regulate themselves"
Strawman. Most people I know who identify themselves as 'free marketers' - myself among them - believe that a market must have a governing set of regulations. This can be imposed by the State, or by a governing body or by the people involved in the business themselves.
You probably know this of course. Heck - you're soaking in a free market when you choose to shop at Store A over Store B, decide where to work, where to buy gas.
I am so weary of people who utilize a free market disparaging the people who advocate for it's very existence ...
Brian Bartel
"Theft, vandalism, and self interest aren't human nature, they are just the nature of humans who lack character."
The first two indicate a lack of character - the last item is just the way people are. We're all self-interested, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Brian Dunbar (Mon Aug 11 13:23:59 2008)
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