(no subject)

[learnedax]

Some people are going to ban model aircraft due to a single death. It seems to me that public safety policy is starting to work like Dustin Hoffman's character from Rain Man: if there exists any evidence that doing something could possibly cause harm, we have to ban it. This is true even if statistics show it to be extremely safe. Of course, a large part of this is also politically motivated as everyone wants to grandstand by doing something about whatever is being deemed a vile threat. It amounts to the same thing, though, whether caution or self-interest motivates the individuals.

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

I like this take on that general problem. It seems like it all stems from everyone needing bigger and bigger pieces of paper to cover their ass...ets...

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess I'll buy that. I tend to see cases like this not just as fossilizing procedure, though, but also contributing to the loss of personal responsibility. Clearly it was the fault of those dangerous model airplanes, not the innocent user. Just like it's the fault of the liquor store owner if you go driving drunk. Arguably process creation, but seemingly an even broader trend of blame shifting.