Oxymoron Nation and the Dialectic of Progress

I recently bought a poison for pests and was surprised to see the packaging had changed. Not only was the poison less powerful, it was packaged in a special dispenser. Why? To reduce risks of accidental poisoning. The tremendous oil and gas findings in Western Pennsylvania has caused angst because people are fearful that the mining can not be done with risk. Drilling at a similar find in the Midwest is on hold for fear of the health of a field rodent. Nuclear power has been effectively banned by the fear of nuclear plants created by the Japanese accident.

Change entails disruption. No appendix is removed without a scar--except on Star Trek, an apt symbol of the fantastic. If we stand frozen before our decisions we will do nothing. If we do nothing we will miss opportunities at worst, we will simply erode at best. I am not speaking about breaking eggs for omelets here, I am talking about managing risk. Looking at a problem, assessing the options, then moving to fix the problem with as good a control of the downsides as possible--that is not capitalistic or dangerous, that is adult. Safe poisons, clean drilling, bloodless surgery are not.

Life is unsafe and ends poorly. The problems we as a people face are sometimes gigantic, sometimes minor but the solutions are rarely without risk. The charge, "Prove this can not happen," is a powerful deterrent to people who do not understand the uncertainties of life and the process of trial and error that is inherent to progress.

I used to think we needed business people in government; now I think we need engineers.