Admittedly it is one of my favorite terms.  Ok, everybody say it out loud with me, “Creeping Incrementalism”.  If that’s a new term for you, then hopefully you’ll give it more attention after reading this article.  Creeping Incrementalism isn’t like the other “isms” you might be used to.   It is the ever-so-slow growth of something not-so-good for us.  And sadly we often overlook it entirely–never knowing until it’s too late.

The recent SOPA and PIPA legislation are prime examples of “creeping incrementalism”.  The government creates these baby-step laws that bring us closer to total censorship every moment of every year.  It “creeps” into legislation in many forms of backroom dealings and pork-barrel comprimizes.  And like so many of the recent spending cap adjustments, there is no real end in sight.  They just keep making more laws and we continue to accept them all one right after the other.  The National Debt is one such creeping incrementalistic problem because it just keeps growing out of control.  The so-called steps to reduce that debt have resulted in trillions of additional debt over the last few years.  Now our children are left with the burden of paying that debt.

But let’s take a look at some other, more simple ways creeping incrementalism works into our daily lives.  My wife purchased some “new” toothpaste today that was touted as, “Smart Foam Effervescent Mint Fluoride Toothpaste“.  When she told me my exact words were, “Really?  So they add air to the product and that’s supposed to make it smarter?”  Seems to me that if you add air, there’s less product.  Manufacturers everywhere are salivating at the fact that we all fall for these fancy keywords and buy this crap.  Recently I discovered “Hershey’s Kisses Air Delight Aerated Milk Chocolates“, which are yet another “add-air, they’ll never notice” recipe with “less actual product” for the same profit margin.   Remember the air-puffed hamburger buns?  Yes, that’s less product and more hot air again.  Ever notice that Starbucks calls their “smallest” size coffee a “Tall”?   Folks, this IS creeping incrementalism veiled in fancy packaging.  How about decorative wrapping paper?  I’m sure you’ve noted that the price has gone up and the roll has very little wrapping paper.

Take this all the way to the end and you get smaller packages and higher prices.  Pretty soon your tooth paste will be a spray mist that comes from the end of a $15 disposable tooth brush (with every application).   Dental Floss is already inserted into small applicators so that they can charge more for less product.  And don’t think they’re not thinking up more inventions to convince us to buy big-box store packaged 500 use products.  They already convinced millions of people to buy liquid detergent instead of powdered soap by just adding water to smaller plastic containers.  It’s called creeping incrementalism because before you know it, it’s already upon us and too late to do anything about it.  Don’t sit idly by and let this happen without being aware of its planned existence.  If they try to sell you 10 hotdogs but only 8 hotdog buns, buy elsewhere.

It seems to me that terms like “planned obsolescence” and “portion control” have a lot in common with “creeping incrementalism”.   Automobile tires wear out almost to the mile they plan them too.  This is all by design of course and we merely accept it all.   Let me be clear on this: they already have the technology to make tires that don’t wear out.   Deodorant used to last a long time, now it seems to cost twice as much for half the time between purchases.  Less chocolate and less toothpaste for more money.  They make holiday wrapping paper out of recycled paper yet we get less and pay more for it.

I remember not so long ago in California, State Legislators came up with the clever idea to use MTBE as a gasoline additive.  it was supposed to make gas cleaner to burn.  Unbeknownst to most Californians, MTBE is a byproduct of Crude Oil.  That’s right!  During the process of manufacturing gasoline from Crude Oil, they can simply extract MTBE.  With the new legislation they can just leave it in and charge more for gas because they can call it an additive.  MTBE was a so-called “additive” in the late 80′s and 90′s, yet it’s been used in gasoline since 1979.  So why pass on a new cost to consumers for something already in fuel?  Profits!  I’m sure you’ve heard the term, “what the market will bear”.  Some, however,  might call this practice criminal.  It’s just another way to make us think we’re getting something for the extra or “new” costs, when we really aren’t.

Speaking of criminals, credit card fraud has been on the rise for decades, yet little has been in the news or done about it on any noticeable scale.  International criminals are fast making small, insignificant charges on our credit and debit cards every day.  And we simply overlook the small charges.  Our bank statements come once a month and who has the time to sort through 200-300 transactions just to find one or two $4 charges that might be fraudulent?  I assure you that we all should hold banks accountable to verifying each and every charging party to protect our funds.  But we don’t even hold the banks accountable for answering the telephone, let alone the important task of actually watching over our money.  Small credit card charges are not readily noticeable to mainstream America or the world for that matter.  This type of creeping incrementalism is destroying our nation bit by bit.

I’ve seen creeping incrementalism in the workplace, at the cash register, in the news and in my medicine cabinet.  It’s all around us.  An hour long TV show is just 40 minutes of actual “content”.  The rest is commercials.  Football Half-time used to be filled with a half-time show, now it’s billion-dollar commercials.  Taking away our freedoms is the next step, and our last stand.  It’s too late for food and water and gasoline (note: water costs more than gasoline now).  It’s way too late for laws and taxes.  We must be ever vigilant and careful not to allow the creeping incrementalism to sneak up on our liberty.    The next time you pay $100 for two carrots and a sliver of fish that was seared with a propane torch, remember to write, “creeping incrementalism” on your bill before you leave.