By careful academic maneuvering, I managed not to take physics in school. That physics book had too many numbers and diagrams in it to suit me. I did peruse it long enough, however, to learn one rule of physics that I’ve never forgotten: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
I remembered that rule because it seemed to apply to almost every decision I would make in life, whether or not my decision has anything to do with actual physics.
If I understand it right, the rule means that every physical action will produce a reaction that is equal to the original in strength and effect. That reaction will not just be a move in some other direction, but it will be in an exact opposite direction from the original. (And if I’m not understanding this rule correctly, you physicists don’t call me on it. I’m on a roll here.)
You’ve seen documentaries of howitzers being shot in battle. When the weapon is fired, the shell is projected from the gun with great force. The firing produces an equal but opposite reaction of forcing the weapon itself backwards with equal velocity.
It’s good to know that rule so that you aren’t standing directly behind your howitzer enjoying the sight of the shell leaving when that powerful “opposite” reaction flattens you.
And it does seem to me that many of our troubles, from simple complications to complex social and economic problems, are the result of the Equal but Opposite Reaction rule.
We know this principle from the medicines that we take. We assume that medicines wouldn’t be sold or prescribed if they’re dangerous, but we need to realize that any medicine powerful enough to correct a problem in one part of our bodies will create a problem in another part. Even over-the-counter pain relievers that calm a tennis elbow can damage the kidneys and liver. And we’re all familiar with the treatments that kill cancerous cells, which we want to happen, but do equal amounts of damage to healthy cells— the opposite of what we want.
Here’s an example of an “equal but opposite reaction” that has probably affected you in some way. During the Covid outbreak many businesses had to close, and workers lost their jobs and income. To protect the workers, the government sent out “stimulus” payments to the temporarily unemployed to help them through a difficult time. That’s the action.
Many of those workers then decided that they liked staying at home and drawing a paycheck, so instead of just tiding them over, the checks became a way of life that are now hard to retract. “Now Hiring” signs are still prevalent and many businesses have trouble getting enough workers, though the pandemic is long over. Instead of protecting the workforce, the payments have to some degree eliminated some of the workforce — the equal but opposite reaction.
Looking further into the problem, the workers who did return to jobs demanded higher pay for their efforts. Most businesses had to comply, the fastfood industry, for example. Workers thought they really had something when they got $15 an hour for throwing hamburgers together. That’s the action.
But the predictable equal but opposite reaction was that the price of the hamburger had to go up to pay the employees, so the $15 an hour guy can’t afford a hamburger meal at the restaurant where he works. And he may be lucky to keep his job at all.
That’s because employers had to take other actions to survive, like reducing employee hours so that few are earning full time pay with benefits, or reducing the number of employees, leaving Hamburger Guy without work at all.
Whether you think these reactions are good or bad, they were predictable. Businesses can’t function (and can’t pay employees) without a profit, and owners will always react as they need to when profits are threatened.
The Defund the Police movement was supposedly started to reduce some of the excessive practices of law enforcement. I don’t believe that was the real reason, but that’s what the defunders told us. With less police protection, some liberal communities are now dealing with the equal but opposite “excessive practices” of thugs, gang-bangers and professional criminals, who are pretty happy with the results of less law enforcement.
The rule even applies to something as simple as telling the truth. To tell the truth is a powerful and positive thing. But in this world that hates the truth, telling it can have an equally powerful negative effect. If you tell the truth, you have to be prepared for the equal but opposite reaction you’ll get from people who don’t want to hear it.
The point of all this is that if you’re going to shoot off a howitzer, learn to predict the reaction. Don’t stand behind it enjoying the view. You won’t be standing there long.
