Sadly Governor Abbott has finally gone stupid in The Great Virus Panic by closing state parks and historical sites. “The temporary closure of our state parks and historic sites will help us achieve this goal by preventing the gathering of large groups of people,” Abbott said but is he accurate?
“State park officials on Tuesday said they were having difficulty ensuring compliance with social distancing, were facing problems in maintaining adequate supplies and struggling to keep park facilities sufficiently sanitized,” the San Antonio Express-News reported.
First, to a large degree it is not the responsibility of park officials to ensure individuals keep distance among themselves out in the open and it is not an achievable aim even with parks closed. Those who don’t take the “social distancing” seriously will simply ignore such elsewhere.
…you may get 90% of the population to “social distance” but no matter how you ratchet up tyrannical restrictions, even up to full police-state, you would not greatly change the behavior of that remainder of people.
Why I use the harsh language of Abbott going stupid is because it seems he and his advisers have been panicked into ignoring something they and all officials should be thinking about a lot: The law of diminishing returns.
The law of diminishing returns affirms that to continue after a certain level of performance has been reached will result in a decline in effectiveness. In other words, you may get 90% of the population to “social distance” but no matter how you ratchet up tyrannical restrictions, even up to full police-state, you would not greatly change the behavior of that remainder of people.
Proof is shown with illicit drug use. Penalties exist in every part of society from employment to prison sentences and yet a large number of people still take dangerous pills and inject and smoke things that could kill them instantly, or way down the risk scale, lead them to jail. But they do it.
Piling restrictions on top of restrictions will not significantly change the behavior of those with high risk tolerances or the inability to judge risk.
Piling restrictions on top of restrictions will not significantly change the behavior of those with high risk tolerances or the inability to judge risk. Thinking it will is stupid, like how liberals never judge outcomes just intentions.
You are exactly right and I agree with you 100%. The State is not responsible for my health or my health practices. The moment that I let them have that responsibility, I forfeit my independence. I choose whether or not to practice social distancing, wear a mask or any other behavior that affects my health. Not the State. Thank you for being the voice of reason.
David, you put it so very well. I may use your phrase today on the show.