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People Break Down Which Solutions Actually Create A Bigger Problem

People Break Down Which Solutions Actually Create A Bigger Problem

Not every solution is a good solution. In fact, some solutions actually make things actively worse.

These are often called the "easy way out," and create a whole new subset of problems that are harder to solve and appear in greater numbers. You may know of these as, for example, the way politicians have dealt with climate change or the ongoing pandemic.


It never solves a damn thing, but it sure as heck takes up space and resources.

Redditor u/Stradivarius69 asked:

"What solution actually causes a larger problem?"

Here were some of those answers.

Purposeful Understaffing

"Job eliminations. Sometimes they're necessary, like when a job is actually obsolete, but usually businesses don't do that and will carve out a bunch of jobs to save money."

"The thing is, while cutting payroll definitely helps short-term (payroll is almost always the most expensive item on a company's books), it actually severely damages long-term growth and cash flow."

"For example, if I run a restaurant and I dismiss a line cook to save on payroll, that means the remaining cooks have more to do, which adds stress."

"Worse, if I dismissed my highest paid cook, who had the best ability at cooking, I've also reduced the quality of my restaurant."

"And then, I've led to increased wait times since food takes longer to get from kitchen to table. This translates to lower table turnover, more stress on my visible staff (servers, wait-staff, etc), but longer lines at my restaurant..."

"And that contributes the worst of all - captive customers leaving my restaurant during peak hours because I can't get them a table and out on their way with full bellies in a reasonable time."

"Super long lines at a restaurant indicate one of two things: 1 - the food is really that good and not only worth the wait and money, but worth not turning the tables as fast (because you'll still be serving people after peak hours and still be serving people tomorrow) or 2 - the tables aren't being turned fast enough, almost always because the restaurant is understaffed."

"A restaurant that is consistently understaffed like that will almost always result in a breakdown and eventual closure of the restaurant."-betterthanamaster

Ah, Our Complex Foreign Policy

"About the same time as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States began collaborating with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to provide several hundred million dollars a year in aid to the Afghan Mujahideen insurgents fighting the Afghan pro-Soviet government and the Soviet Army in Operation Cyclone."

"Along with native Afghan mujahideen were Muslim volunteers from other countries, popularly known as 'Afghan Arabs.'"

"The most famous of the Afghan Arabs was Osama bin Laden, known at the time as a wealthy and pious Saudi who provided his own money and helped raise millions from other wealthy Gulf Arabs."-Fenderbyname

Almost Like The Pied Piper

"The rat control problem where the country's ruler promised rewards if people can give them rat tails as proof of eradicating them."

"People just instead bred them and only cut the tails."-blocksoficedcoffee

The first thing to be prepared for when finding a solution is that it will not work the way you want it to--so foresight is necessary.

Thanks Reagan

"The war on drugs has also been destroying Central America beyond repair, just so parents in the 'Western world' may one day stop worrying that their children are getting their hands on illegal drugs."

"Maybe try parenting instead. But hey, what's a million mexicans here and there, as long as little, white Stuart is kept off the coke."-Ninjafingers84

But We Criminalize Poverty

"In a lot of cases, prison. You live a life of crime because you fall in with the wrong crowd and/or are destitute."

"So they lock you up with a bunch of other criminals, without any means of making money, and give you a criminal record that makes it exponentially harder to find a job when you leave."

"People live a life of crime, because often there's no way out. Prison just becomes collateral."-AlterEdward

Abuse Isn't Parenting

"Spanking can correct behavior but causes long term issues among many children. I see a lot of people defend it because they turned out fine."

"I'm not judging people who pop a child on the diapered bum once or twice. It's the parents who regularly give their child a hard spanking. It's been proven over and over again that it leads to long term mental and emotional issues."-maid-for-hire

The USA Strikes Again

"CIA took over Iran and installed the Shah to keep oil flowing. Decades later the US is dealing with radical Islam because of our 'victory.'"

"Also oil related; in the 1950s someone thought it would be a great idea to add lead to gasoline to make cars run smoother. Poisoned the air, and many people now believe that it lead to the rise in street crime through the 1970s."-doowgad1

Do a lot of the problems we are living through now as a society suddenly make sense to you?

Nothing Solved

"In an early environmental move, citrus farmers in Florida were told to stop burning tires in their groves. Burning tires prevented frost damage."

"The farmers were sold environmentally better burning pots to do the same thing. Then the farmers had the tires collected and taken to the dump. At the dump the tires were burned."-FrankieMint

Un-Exposure Therapy

"Avoiding things you're scared of. Well, at least if it's things that a functioning person should be able to do. Like, you don't need to go bungee jumping to lead a normal life."

"I'm talking about things like social interaction, public transportation, leaving the house... Things that become a huge problem if you can't do them anymore due to massive anxiety."

"Avoidance works as a short-term solution to reduce anxiety, but it actually makes things worse in the long run."-I-just-wanna-talk-

The Soul Of A Nation

"Banning drugs. People will get it from gangs, it's better that the government provides them the fix, and then helps them get off of the drugs, than a dealer to hook them and either get them to do dirty work, or they get into crime to pay for their next fix."

"Banning all abortion. We all know of the coat hanger memes, but it is based on a real thing. If you ban all abortion, all you are banning is safe abortion."

"People will do back alley, illegal, nonsterile abortions and a lot of people will be hurt. Best way to reduce abortion is to educate kids and teens about sex and safety, provide free contraception, increase education and overall quality of living, and most abortions will stop."

RaccKing21


These solutions causing more problems are the very backbone of the society we have inherited today.

Hopefully we can learn to not make the same mistakes as our predecessors.

Things People Secretly Love But Would Never Admit To In Public

Reddit user sweet_chick283 asked: 'What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?;

Collection of VHS tapes
Bruno Guerrero/Unsplash

What makes us all unique is our passions and the things we love, whether it's singing in the shower, reading books, or listening to specific music artists.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are judged for our various tastes and interests thanks to social media, and it makes us consciously selective about sharing the things we love on the internet.

Curious to hear about people's personal desires under anonymity, Redditor sweet_chick283 asked:

"What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?"

These aren't really chores for the following Redditors.

Good Clean Fun

"Mopping, im a janitor and generally hate my work... but damn mopping is so good."

– MrDDog06

"When you have a great rhythm going it is something special. I get the same feeling while I vacuum, but won’t let my wife know I enjoy it."

– Bogus_34

Act Of Unwrinkling

"Ironing clothes. A dozen of them. Can’t explain how it relaxes me. I told one person and they looked at me like I’m crazy."

– eerie_white_glow

"My mum misses the days when dad would be out on a Friday night, my brother out with friends and me upstairs quietly playing PS1. She would pour herself a Bacardi & Coke and do the ironing while watching her TV shows."

"I'm sure she doesn't really miss it now that we've moved out and they've retired but it was her wind-down after a busy working week so I can see how people can find it relaxing."

– xdq

Our solo actions can spark joy.

Big Brother Is Watching

"pretending to be on the Truman show and whenever im in my house i act all inconspicuous so they dont know that i know that they’re watching me."

– Bec_121

"C’mon man, you’re not supposed to let him know. You signed a contract when signing up for live views. I’m reporting you."

– doeswaspsmakehoney

The Multi-Tasker

"Playing video games naked at home while eating cheese."

– thickening_agent

Releasing The Kraken

"I love the feeling when you've eaten good fibre and let out a solid long train log in the toilet. That feeling is heavenly."

– therapoootic

"Even better when it’s a clean wipe and not a poo crayon."

– TheWarmestHugz

Ultimate Comfort

"My (male 41) weekend routine is coming home from work, make hot chocolate, start a fire, dress in a ugly pink nightgown made for old ladies and watch forensic files."

– crazyloomis

Some people are obsessed with collecting things.

So Kawai

"Sanrio stationery stores. All those different multicolor pens, a thousand kinds of erasers, spiral bound notebooks galore... my kids sadly have absolutely no appreciation for this wonderland..."

– HavingNotAttained

It's A Staple

"Office supplies have a weird, special place in my heart ever since I was a kid. They don't even have to be 'cute' necessarily."

"Japan's legendary stationery stores is unironically a reason I want to go."

– _CozyLavender_

Not Caring Anymore

"The older I get the shorter that list gets. Not because I love less things, but because I don't care about hiding it."

– Bi-Beast

"YES!! I'm 53 now. I'm working my first job in public since 2006. Today is Halloween and we're allowed to dress up so I am sitting here waiting to go to work dressed as a VERY bad Wednesday Addams. My bf said I'd 'look stupid' because no one else will probably dress up and I'm like, 'WHO CARES!' My makeup looks horrible and not like I practiced, but I DO NOT CARE! I'm having fun with it anyhow and I don't care if my coworkers dress up or not. I'm bein' ME! :)"

– deanie1970

Honorable mentions start here.

The Savior

"Picking up worms from the street and sidewalks when it rains and moving them into the dirt so they don’t burn in the sun, every time it rains I do this."

– sky_kitten89

Hero Of The Moment

"Yoooo I scoot SO many snails and worms. I work as a tech/mechanic at an automotive shop, I had a peoject car towed to my house the other day and it was covered in snails. I saw them when the tow guy/coworker was unloading and I was like, 'oh! It comes with free snails!' and began moving them. He laughed then realized and said, '... Oh, you're serious. Uh... Okay.'"

"I don't care who knows it. These little things barely can look out for themselves, why shouldn't we if we can take a moment to help? I don't care what happens next, it probably doesn't matter overall but I can help this moment."

– chris14020

Why should some of the hidden desires mentioned above have to be secret?

Redditors opening up about some of these would make them a hit at parties–no shaming.

As a matter of fact, I'll totally be down for a Forensic Files viewing party where we all make hot chocolate, light the fireplace, and cozy up together in our respective pink ugly nightgowns for old ladies.

historical reenactors
Sigmund on Unsplash

We've probably all heard some variation of the saying "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Real life isn't just strange, it can also be downright ridiculous.

History is riddled with moments of absurdity.

So ridiculous that people have a hard time believing real life is, well, really real.

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