Good points, just like why we bother rescuing people at Mt. Everest?
Ahem. Mt. Everest is in another country. "We" don't pay for those rescue attempts.
L
"Good points, just like why we bother rescuing people at Mt. Everest?"
A lot of times they don't. The approaches to Everest are littered with the bodies of people who were not only not rescued, but not recovered post-mortem.
I just finished Krakauer's "Into Thin Air." The rescues on Everest are done by other expeditions that happen to be on the mountain. It is too remote for any state intervention.
Climbing is a high risk adventure, but I didn't see anything that indicates that these guys were foolish. They were caught up in a storm that wasn't supposed to be there for a couple of more days.
The galleries are full of critics. They play no ball, they fight no fights. They make no mistakes because they attempt nothing. Down in the arena are the doers. They make mistakes because they try many things. The person who makes no mistakes lacks boldness and the spirit of adventure. He is the one who never tries anything. His is the brake on the wheel of progress. And yet it cannot be truly said he makes no mistakes, because his biggest mistake is the very fact that he tries nothing, does nothing, except criticize those who do things.