Maybe we'd be safer if we were kinder, or fairer

[nancylebov]

From the NYTimes:

That is what both Howard Bodenhorn, an economist at Clemson University, and Mr. Price concluded from 19th-century prison records. In that era increased body weight was associated with a lower risk of [committing] crime. In the 21st century, though, in which service jobs are much more common, Mr. Price found that being overweight was linked to a higher risk of [committing] crime.

*****

Mr. Price has suggested that there may be policy implications in his work, saying, “Public health policies successful at reducing obesity among individuals in the population will not only make society healthier, but also safer.”

The Times article also has somewhat about the economic effects of beauty and height.

Link thanks to Mind Hacks.

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

That's at least possible, and I noted it at the outset. But forbidding members of the groups that are discriminated against to compete by offering to work for less deprives them of the ability to (a) compete by offering their services at a better price (b) that is more than they are making at their current crap jobs. It works to the advantage of the people who have skilled or otherwise desirable jobs at the expense of both the employers and the people who would like those jobs but can't get them because of discrimination.