Choices cause stress

There are plenty of studies about stress. Unlimited choices cause stress. This is why many people are willing to have the central planners make choices for them.

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - One sign of the tough economic times is that the very thought of taking a vacation has become stressful, according to a recent survey.

Ayn Rand's sister, Nora Drobysheva, visited Rand in New York in 1974. Nora had lived her life under Russian communism. Drobysheva was so stressed about the chaos of New York's busy life that she returned to the Soviet Union, to live serenely under the care of the State.

My neighbor was a retired nuclear physicist who had worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He was a brilliant man. He complained about all the choices for telephone service in the year 2008. He longed for the era when Ma Bell, AT&T, provided the only telephone service.

I talked to a lady about privatizing the U.S. Post Office. I said it is a monopoly that owns our mailboxes. I advocated for FedEx and others to provide a choice of mail delivery. FedEx might even delivery your letters to your door, for a fee. FedEx might use envelopes with ads on them to cut down fees. The lady was adamant that she liked the current post office system, though she did not know how much a first class stamp cost, nor did she understand why someone who lives twenty miles from a post office should pay the same price for mail delivery as one who lived only a block from the post office.

Generations ago young people had fewer choices for a career. They could farm or go to sea. Later their choices could be to spend a short life in a coal mine, or a career in a hot and noisy factory. Today young people are stressed out about their career choices. They change careers multiple times because there are so many choices,each choice promising a happier life.

People would rather stand in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles than have a choice of providers to license their vehicles.

When we have limited choices provided by the state we can complain about someone else. We never have to complain or take responsibility for our choices.

We want an easy and serene life. The central planners offer us that hope by making choices for us. Hope is a cheap form of happiness. The offer of hope costs the central planners nothing.

"There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it's easy." Unknown

We will always take the easy choice with the most gain.

Charles Tolleson