Is Disrespect Now Praised in Our Society?

What follows is a letter I wrote to National Public Radio regarding a story they aired on on September 11, 2009. The story was called "The Economics of Misbehaving in School." You can hear the story at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112739889&ft=1&f=94427042

Dear NPR & the Planet Money Team.

I was both shocked and in no way surprised when, during the Plant Money story, “The Economics of Misbehaving in School”, I heard a student being praised as “efficient” for being disrespectful to his school principal. He interrupted her presentation, asking when it would be over, and we, the listening audience, were told that from an economist’s point of view, his behavior was golden. He “efficiently” told the other students that he was “brave” and a “risk taker”.

I wonder why Senator Wilson was not given such praise for his “You lie!” comment to president Obama. Rather than being disrespectful, was he not merely telling folks efficiently where he stood on the issue of health care and his trust of the president? Planet Money should applaud him for his brave, risk-taking efficiency. Perhaps he should be given an apology by NPR for any negative comments made about his outburst. After all, he was practicing golden economics, or at least he would have been if people cared as little about his disrespect as you did about the young high school student’s.

How in the world can we demand respect from adults when disrespect is praised in our youth? If we praise a youth for successfully applying a wholly selfish cost/benefit analysis to his actions, how can we expect CEOs of major financial institutions to care about the millions of people adversely affected by their “brave risk taking”: cost to the CEOs, possible loss of job and infamy…benefit, millions of dollars. The cost to everyone else doesn’t even come up in your analysis. By Planet Money’s standards, they were practicing “golden economics” by running the financial system into the ground.

Your story was disturbing because it praised selfishness and disrespect, and recast those traits as admirable economic practice. Good luck living in a society in which selfishness and total disregard for others is praised rather than vilified. When the next financial crisis or senatorial outburst strikes, I hope you will have the integrity to praise those responsible as you praised this young man, or maybe you will rethink what you value and the lessons you chose to teach by the stories you run.

Sincerely,

Brad Sullivan