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Sparrows, spiders, and unintended consequences…
By Singapore Man of Leisure  •  November 18, 2011
During China’s Great Leap Forward campaign from 1958 to 1962, there was this campaign to rid China of 4 main pests: 
1)      Rats
2)      Flies
3)      Mosquitoes
4)      Sparrows
Unfortunately, the Chinese leadership realized too late that sparrows not only eat grains (that’s why they were on the list), they also eat insects too! 
Without the checks and balances of nature, the locust population mushroomed and it contributed to one of the greatest man-made famine and catastrophe of human history… Over 30 million Chinese perished due to starvation during the Great Leap Forward years… More Chinese died than the whole of World War II!!?? Talk about well-intention gone bad… 
 
When I moved into my studio apartment in Athens, I noticed there were spider webs on the 2 windows that let light into the room. Yucks!  
Since I am not a big spider fan (who is?), I decided to “sheltox” the spiders and remove the cobwebs. Guess what? During summer evenings for the past 3 years, I am now terrorized by kamikaze mosquitoes in the night! I guess they must have slipped through the gaps in the windows…  
When once upon a time the spiders’ webs would have done me a great service… I now “sheltox” myself in the dark whenever I hear the buzz of the mosquitoes…  Realization came too late. The spider never did me any harm; the mosquitoes did more damage. Sigh… 
 Now your turn! Have you done anything in the past that you thought would be good for you, but only to realize that the unintended consequences are even worse!? 
For those of you lucky enough not to have this “ah ha” experience, you’ll know when you know it! 
 P.S. You can read this post in any way you like – depending how deep you want to “mind fxxx” yourself. From the high macro social-political level, to relationships, and down to the your investing/trading oops moments  J Singapore Man of Leisure (welcome to my blog; just google it!) This post was written by a guest contributor. Please see their details in the post above. If you'd like to guest post for TheFinance.sg, feel free to contact me for details about how YOU can share your tips and knowledge with our community.
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By Singapore Man of Leisure
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