While having my manufactured breakfast at a Holiday Inn Express in Connecticut, I came upon two news stories that can be construed to be arguments for certain regulation of business by the government for our own safety. This basic concept, of course, is lost on our august legislators in Washington, DC, as they insist that all these regulations impede progress, innovation, and, uh, oh yeah, PROFIT. Please continue to the body of my story.
I guess staying in this Holiday Inn is making me smarter already....
An unlucky family booked a vacation at some rental apartment in the US Virgin Islands to escape this year's brutal winter (which can be due to global warming-ask any real scientist). Soon after their arrival they all got violently ill, vomiting, dizziness, etc., and had to be sent to a nearby hospital. It was concluded that they needed to be evacuated to a hospital back in the states when it was determined that the family was exposed to methyl bromide, a potent neurotoxin used in insecticides. It, apparently, was used to fumigate some of the rental units.
It turns out that US and US VI laws prohibit the indoor use of methyl bromide due to its high danger to humans and pets, and insufficient ventilation compared to the great outdoors. The contracting exterminator, Terminix, (another American megacorp), is aware of the restrictions on methyl bromide use, and actually is not trying to make excuses, rather, they are conducting their own investigation while the authorities are conducting a criminal investigation. Terminix issued a statement, starting with the usual American Fundyspeak "our prayers are with the family" followed by the usual platitudes of "concern" and "take this seriously" and "will conduct our own investigation".
Let's see if both investigations get the same result.
The second story comes from CNN, that bastion of liberal thought. It seems that there may be a shortage of qualified commercial airline pilots in the years to come. Once upon a time, an aspiring pilot could go to school, get their FAA certification, and, with as little as 250 flight hours, could be hired by an airline. After the egregious crash of a commuter plane in Buffalo in 2009, egregious because NTSB quickly found out that gross pilot error caused the crash and killed many people, the requirement was raised to 1500 hours. Now pilots have to log six times more time in the cockpit. The CNN story drew a comparison that the average starting teacher pay in the US is $35,000, starting pilots average $22,000 (I believe these numbers should be reversed where I live in Cackalacky), and people generally feel that teachers are underpaid. So, CNN alludes that the low pay and stringent qualifications may be a cause for far fewer people seeking FAA certification in recent years.
So, what does this have to do with government regulations? Simple. Because of our stringent regulations, pesticide poisoning in America is rare, and, when it does happen, it's probably because someone didn't follow the rules, thus may be prosecuted. The FAA flight hours requirement should be self-explanatory, but, if you were boarding a plane bound for wherever, and found out that your pilot just graduated school last week, would you savor your pretzels just a little more? To say nothing of the 2-persons in the cockpit-at-all-times requirement (Germanwings, anyone???)
But, wait a minute!! These regulations are hurting business! How the hell is any self-repsecting CEO supposed to clear $100 million a year with all this bullshit getting in the way? Well, fear not, and Thaink Gawhd that we have the Koch brothers, the DeVos family, among others, fighting for the preservation of our profits! Oh, wait a minute, they aren't our profits? Oh, that's right! It's their profits! So what if the occasional working stiff gets paralyzed and dies from bug spray; those bugs are icky anyway. And, wouldn't you want more choices of flights and less waiting if there were more pilots hanging around, even if some of them just experienced menarche last week?
OK, let's get serious for a moment. Unless and until the general public is taught how relaxing too many regulations can affect them personally, they will go along with the GOP bullshit diatribe until they pay personally with their own health and lives. So, Mr. John Q. Public, sprinkle this stuff in your soup so flies won't land in there, and enjoy your trip, if the plane gets there in one piece.
OK, OK, lots of hyperbole there, but I try to make a point. Low taxes are great, if you don't mind the ramifications (I hear Mogadishu is nice this time of year). Someone on DK ends their comments with a quote that goes something like: "I don't mind paying taxes. With my tax dollars, I buy civilization." I love that one.