| How Norma Reduced
the National Crime Rate at 21; or:
Thinking
Freakonomically
C’mon, did you really think my silence would be permanent? True, maybe this Xanga should be titled,
“drea…occasionally” instead of “drea…lately,” but life wasn’t going to keep me
away forever. And Facebook
definitely couldn’t. Thanks to the flu
and some coaxing from Phen2000, the time and motivation to re-post were
available to this unsuccessful absconder. As salutary as Facebook has been to my
keeping tabs on folks I wouldn’t normally reach out and touch, it hasn’t proved
itself the most effective vehicle for substantive exchange in my eyes. So I’m thinking about revving my Xanga a
little more frequently, and perhaps I’ll even start posting on FIG after eons
of reticence. (By the way, do any of you
still read/post on this thang?)
Norma: The
Proverbial Butterfly Flapping Her Wings
So, I’ve been devouring this book Freakonomics and thought I’d post some ponderings. I was hooked from the table of contents,
really. I mean, who doesn’t want to read
a rogue economist’s theories on why crack dealers still live with their mothers
and why some sumo wrestlers cheat? As
captivated as I was with this book, it was not until completing chapter four
that I was completely blown away. For
who hath despised the day of small things? the Bible record asks. Someone could have posed the same question to “poor, uneducated, unskilled, alcoholic, drug-using” twenty-four-year-old”
Norma McCorvey in 1973 and gotten an ear full.
Abortion was illegal in many states just three years prior, but Norma
was pregnant again and wanted an abortion. Powerful people took on her case and before
she knew it Norma was a plaintiff in a class-action suit against Dallas County district attorney, Henry Wade. Plaintiff Norma
was given the pseudonym Jane—you guessed it—Roe. Not long after, the Supreme Court handed down
its landmark opinion of 1973 in Roe v.
Wade.
The result: The soaring
crime-rate of the late 80’s abruptly plummeted in the 90’s, explain Steven
Levitt and others. “Say, WHAT?!” you
respond with a start as you hit pause on your iPod and reach for a Q-tip. “You heard me! Did I stutter?!” “But what does the latter have to do with the
former?” you ask. I guess you’ll just have
to read the book and find out.
But it got me thinking about the big and often unanticipated
impact of little things. It’s like the
time when I did the Scripture reading for Dr. Pipim’s opening night message,
“Alas, My Brother” at GYC 2006. Little
did I know that an African American young person whom I had never met was
watching on 3ABN and thinking to herself: “Now there’s an educated, African
American young lady with natural hair.” My
brief appearance that night was enough to convince her to chop off her perm and
“go natural,” to her mother’s utter shock.
This young lady, sporting her new, beautiful, natural ‘do, shared the story with me at GYC 2007. I was not a little surprised (and
delighted!). But believe you me, I was
sobered.
The Impact of Little
Things….
It’s how one indiscretion can embolden an unperceived onlooker
to do the same or worse. (Remember, there are many watching you of whom you
have no knowledge. 2SM 386)
It’s how a beautiful relationship can be sacrificed on
the alter of an unworthy misunderstanding or neglect.
It’s also how smiling at a random stranger may prevent a
suicide.
It’s how movements begin and history is made by nameless young
people.
It’s how one prayer can save a life.
It’s how forgiveness can bring in a flood of healing grace.
Think about it. |
