Just One Life

    I know the title sounds like this is going to be one of my spiritual posts, but actually it is a rant against the faulty zero risk reasoning of this era. Often the justification for increasingly burdensome safety warnings or standards is "if it will save just one life, it's worth it".  I submit that is not a valid argument because there is no logical endpoint for that standard. A person rushing out of the house because a smoke alarm is going off, may trip and choke to death on their toothbrush. That does not mean we should outlaw smoke alarms or put warning labels on toothbrushes, "Do Not Place in Mouth". Admittedly, that would be a freak accident, but in our litigation lottery society, it would also be considered a golden opportunity.
     There are such things as freak accidents, just as there are instances when people get hurt and, much to the contingency lawyers' disappointment, it's not anybody's fault. By the reasoning "if it saves just one life" it would be important to get out of your home because most accidents happen in the home, not surprising, we spend more time there than elsewhere.  Our homes are filled with electrical wiring, hot things, flammable materials and slippery substances. Our houses are not safe, but how can we go somewhere else?  We certainly can't take the car because thousands of people are killed in auto accidents every year.  Though bicycle accidents are less common, we have much less protection on a bike and more than one person has died that way.  However, a bicycle may have enough speed to avoid an impending accident, pedestrians lack even that advantage.  So in order to save "just one life" we can neither stay home nor leave it.
     If we chose to bubble wrap ourselves and remain immobile in the middle of a room, we would be safe from accidents but our bodies would rapidly begin to malfunction. This would not be the fault of the bubble wrap. In order to save "just one life", it would be necessary not to live it.  That is why I have zero tolerance for our zero risk mentality. Zero risk is our eternal reward, not an earthly entitlement. Hope that doesn't burst anyone's bubble.