[extropy-chat] a comparison with London bombings

[Mike Lorrey]

--- BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 7/8/05, Damien Broderick wrote:
> > Britain 2002:
> > 
> > Child pedestrians:
> > Killed  79
> > Killed or seriously injured  2,828
> > 
> > Adult pedestrians:
> > Killed 696
> > Killed or seriously injured  5,803
> > 
> > Motorcyclists and passengers:
> > Killed 609
> > Killed or seriously injured 7,500
> > 
> > Car drivers and passengers:
> > Killed 1,747
> > Killed or seriously injured 18,728
> > 
> 
> People overreact emotionally to disasters and are very poor at risk
> analysis. And you won't get any thanks for pointing this out. You
> cruel, heartless, calculating monster!  ;)
> 
> Look at the panic about shark attacks in Florida in the news.
> (About ten people annually are killed by sharks worldwide).

And two people drowned in a rip-tide after 6 pm on New Hampshire's
shores, so now the state is spending several hundred grand on rip tide
warning signs and extended life-guard hours. The thing you aren't
considering is the opportunity costs of not doing anything. NH's beach
is a tourist mecca (as is London). Nothing keeps the tourists and their
dollars away more than the impression that nothing is being done about
a perceived risk.

> 
> Try telling them that 9/11 deaths are similar to monthly U.S. traffic
> fatalities.
> Compare the road safety budgets with homeland security budgets. 

Not a valid comparison. You'd need to include the cost of bumpers,
crush-zone engineering, airbags, door I-beams, and seatbelts that every
car owner pays for in the price of their vehicle. Multiply that by
every vehicle on the road.

> 
> 9/11 fatalities were several to ten times fewer than annual deaths
> from falls (in the home or workplace), or from suicide, or from
> homicide.

Just as more toddlers die in 5 gallon buckets than by firearms, but you
don't see any 5 gallon bucket control laws. More people die on toilets
than anywhere else, but there are no laws regulating their use.

> 
> Instead of rationally apportioning funds to the worst or most unfair
> societal predicaments, homeland security budgets soar.
> 
> In the UK we will probably have huge spending on nonsensical security
> measures now, just like in the US..

You mean all those cameras and gun bans weren't?

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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