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The Perils of “If It Saves Only One Life…” Mentality
A few days ago I wrote a blog on the misery of air travel, an industry dominated by inefficiency, ridiculous rules, horrendous customer service, and iron-fisted control. How did it get this way? Mainly by government-enforced overkill of the “if it saves one life” mentality, cheered on by a sensationalist media. Think about how every air disaster or terrorist incident has been covered over the last 50 years. Even single-engine private plane crashes get top story billing. And of course, 9/11 fueled government’s heavy-handed takeover of the industry and degradation of human rights like perhaps no event in human history.
Consider if a politician tried to pull back the reins of air travel tyranny now. The first time ANY crash or hijacking occurred, the media and political opponents would absolutely bludgeon that politician. How can you really argue back, by saying the lives lost weren’t as important as the flying inconveniences? However, that kind of logic could be applied to nearly anything in life.
Traffic deaths claim the lives of about 40,000 Americans annually. We could set the speed limit at 10 mph and bring that number almost to zero. Aren’t those lost lives worth it? However, it would bring nearly all commerce to a crawl. Entire industries would go bankrupt, and likely far more people would starve to death than died in crashes. But even without the effect on commerce, life would be miserable as we couldn’t enjoy the same leisure activities or spend as much time with friends & family. Ok, if speed limit changes don’t work, how about we make safety inspections like air travel? Maybe when your car tires reach 25,000 miles, you can no longer drive on them without government inspection. That would save lives, right? Maybe a few, but it would create expensive delays & backlogs, or force drivers to buy new tires even if their old ones could easily have lasted another 25,000 miles. How about daily police stops to check every driver for alcohol, even if there’s no recklessness signs? That would waste a lot of time and infringe on our rights, but it likely would prevent some drunk driving deaths, so isn’t it worth it? See any parallels with the airline industry?
Boxing, rock-climbing, rafting, motorcycling, skiing,..the list of risky activities is endless. We could ban or regulate them all to prevent injuries or deaths. We could ban alcohol, tobacco, donuts, candy, and every other kind of unhealthy vice. How much is enough, and who gets to decide what is “dangerous?” What good is the “if it only saves one life” mentality if life itself is not worth living? Freedom is about making common sense choices to minimize risk while still allowing things you enjoy in your life. When politicians take that away, egged on by sensationalist media not concerned with unintended consequences, you end up with the miserable, expensive, wasteful pile of crap that is the airline industry.
Blog Link: https://educationdojo.com/study-break/2026/02/02-28-education-dojo-daily/#random_thoughts
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