| Blogs > sparrowhawk9 > Thoughts from Underground Man |
|
H G Wells quote “Strength outcome of need; security sets a premium feebleness.” ― H.G. Wells from Cult of Safety... For most of human history, focus of society was material side. Progress was about increasing material wellbeing of people. In fact, political philosophy was solely focused material well-being. great battle in West was over what sort of political economy would provide most stuff for most people. Eventually, liberal democracy won over communism. Then the debate subtly changed from material well-being overall safety of people. Safety new goal. For example, an increasingly common thing if you work in an office notice that vents will be cleaned one night. You are told to expect some disruption of your day or maybe some things will be moved around in office. A crew comes in clean vents for so everyone safe. Residential rental properties are now required in most states have dryer vents cleaned once a year. In some states, home owners are required do this too. Vent cleaning is a thing now. more than just a thing. a booming little niche business. According one of rapidly growing vent cleaning companies, demand for vent cleaning growing at close four percent per year. They say that the increased awareness dangers posed by home clothes dryers what driving growth. claim number of accidents caused by these appliances making people suspicious of what’s happening in those vents, so they want vets cleaned regularly. Of course, This is true a great degree. In office space, people have come believe that whatever being cleaned out of those heat and air conditioning ducts bad for people inside offices. Sick building syndrome one of those things people have come accept without question. true of dangers posed by common household dryer. Mention this someone and they will claim that clothes dryers cause a lot of fires every year. Interestingly, none of this is true. According government, there are about 2900 dryer fires per year. There no data fires caused by debris or dust in ventilation ducts of buildings. damage resulting from those dryer fires total $35 million per year. about a third caused by too much fuzz in dryer vent, so that means a $ million problem. Put another way, we have a $350 million dollar industry solve a problem a bit less serious than bathtub drownings. other odd thing about the vent cleaning craze that people don’t bother questioning . They just assume a real thing. If you ask someone about dryer vent business, they will fight you about the facts, claiming that clothes dryers have always been a menace. If you point out the facts, they get mad at you, as if you are questioning a tenant of their religion. Seemingly out of nowhere, vent cleaning has become an important part of keeping us safe. That key . Safety has become something of a religion. After , you can never be too safe. We know this because we are constantly being told by mass media and our government that we can never be too safe. We spent trillions waging a crusade against Muslims because we had to be safe from terror. We are now spending trillions on Covid, so we can be safe from illness. We’re in this together, whether we like or not, because our safety what matters. This explains, in part, bizarre over reaction we saw from our rulers over protests in Washington. These are the high priests of the cult of safety. They live the safest of lives and depend on faith in safety for their existence. This reminder that no one can ever be truly safe, especially the rulers of a society, was like telling them that their gods are completely fake. They proved that was a lie by turning their palaces into fortified bunkers guarded by heavily armed soldiers. An easy to miss subtext to the continued lockdowns is the claim that working at home is safer than going to the office. at school skin knees and bump their heads, which does not happen when schools are closed. Fewer people commuting means fewer car accidents. The annual flu has been eradicated, they claim, because everyone stays home, instead of mingling with the public. Even if our heroes defeat Covid, staying home is just safer and safer is always better. There is an obvious problem with this. It is really hard to run a human society when everyone is locked in their pods. Some people can work at home, for sure, but most people need supervision. We are social animals and our sense of self is tied to our participation in our group. This extends to society as a whole. People in isolation from one another or isolated into little tribes lose their group identity. They begin to take on the mentality of prisoners, rather than citizens. There are also the diminishing returns. The dryer vent business is a great example of how not to solve a problem. An iron rule of life is the solution can never be more expensive than the problem. The dryer vent issue is a great example of how the price of being safer far outweighs the value of being safer. We have long since passed the point of diminishing returns regarding safety. Since there is no limiting principle to the religion of safety, we keep trying anyway, despite the cost. An easy to overlook angle here is the fact that these efforts to insulate ourselves from risk must fail. The dominant justification for the current arrangements is that it is making us safer. At some point, something bad happens and people will suddenly be less safe. A recession, for example. The gods of safety will be proven to be false or feckless gods. Faith depends on confirmation and nothing harms a religion like a bit of disconfirmation, which in this case is inevitable. Then again, perhaps we have reached the point in our development that the Eloi reached in the novel Time Machine. The protagonist, having observed the Eloi, the humans of the future, noted that “strength is the outcome of need; security sets a premium on feebleness.” That is modern people. We are now too weak and feeble to question our arrangements. Instead, all that matters is the sense of safety and security, whether is real or imagined. Safety is now our god. Ryszard |
|||
|
that's so true, is that not the natural characteristics of any species ? Even wildlife seeks for shelters and hunts for foods that are the basic needs. .
|
