# Antivirus Paradox (Perverse incentive)

{ Thanks to an anon who informed me about the correct name of this phenomenon <3 ~drummyfish }

Antivirus paradox (also *perverse incentive* or *cobra effect*) is the paradox of someone who's job it is to eliminate certain undesirable phenomenon actually having an interest in keeping this phenomenon existing so as to keep his job. A typical example is an antivirus company having an interest in the existence of dangerous viruses and malware so as to keep their business running; in fact antivirus companies themselves secretly create and release viruses and malware. The name cobra effect comes from a story in which government started to pay rewards for dead cobras in order to eliminate their numbers, which resulted in people actually breeding cobras to make more money.

Cases of said behavior are common, e.g. the bind-torture-kill serial killer used to work as a seller of home security alarms who installed alarms for people who were afraid of being invaded by the bind-torture-killer, and then used his knowledge of the alarms to break into the houses -- a typical capitalist business. It is also a known phenomenon that many firefighters are passionate arsonists because society simply praises them for fighting fires (as opposed to rewarding them for the lack of fires).

In capitalism and similar systems requiring people to have jobs this paradox prevents progress, that is to say actual elimination of undesirable phenomena, hence capitalism and similar systems are anti-progress. And not only that, the system pressures people to artificially creating new undesirable phenomena (like a "lack of women in tech" and similar bullshit) just to create new bullshit jobs that "fight" this phenomena. In a truly good society where people are not required to have jobs and in which people aim to eliminate work this paradox largely disappears.

## See Also

- anticompany