On Wed, 19 Apr 2000 18:53:20 -0500, Wilson, Dale wrote:
>> Having survived the cholesterol scare of the '90s, the
>> egg is facing perhaps a tougher foe: President Clinton's
>> Egg Safety Action Plan.
>
>> By its own estimates, the government believes that only
>> 1 in 20,000 eggs contains Salmonella enteritidis,...
>> at a rate of five deaths a year, fewer people die from
>> eating Salmonella enteritidis-tainted eggs than from
>> lightning strikes.
>The irony here is that the same statistical naivety, and lack of
>appreciation of scale is what has driven the phobia against pesticide
>residues. Except that the connection between pesticide residues and illness
>is harder to prove than the Salmonella/illness connection.
It seems to me that the core issue is that the Clinton administration
--- far, far, more than any others except perhaps FDR --- has as its
fundamental tactic to create the *perception* of a crisis, and
supported by its allies in the media, to use that "crisis" as the
reason for yet another expansion of government involvement in the lives
of ordinary citizens.
The ultimate result is to create a nation far too full of people,
compliant in their dependency, who fear any reduction in the size,
scope or power of government, lest they actually have to look out for
themselves. This is patently obvious in ag policy.
The unfortunate counterpoint is that a classic definition of
"addiction" is *fear of loss or removal* rather than anticipation of
pleasure. Sounds like we're getting addicted to big, intrusive
government. I half expect this administration to introduce a program to
protect us from the emerging crisis of diaper rash.
Bart
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