I have heard that argument...seems to be the same one as those warn about the use of antibiotics.
My point is more to the philosophy of whether it ought to be a government mandate....especially a central government as opposed to a local, more accountable government.
“My point is more to the philosophy of whether it ought to be a government mandate”
Actually, I wouldn’t ban antibiotics but I know parents who insist a doctor give their child antibiotics when they have a cold. I try to avoid them, but there are times when they’re needed. I always ask the doctor if he really thinks they’ll help. Oddly, sometimes they say no. So giving antibiotics is a ritual.
As to whether the government should be involved, I believe the answer is we should go back to the size and powers of the government we had in 1920. That is to say, we’d practically never hear from it.
The FAA, EPA and a host of other alphabet agencies WAY overregulate. (Companies I worked for that were totally clean metaphorically sh*t when the EPA people showed up. That’s because they were all powerful, but not all-knowledgable. Power without responsibility is not a good combination.)
Any outbreak would be considered a national interest rather than local. And maybe you have a cracking local government, but most are as inept as any other bureaucracy.
Antibi soaps have been an issue in hospitals for 20 years. Initial concern was that they dried the skin and actually caused staff to NOT wash hands. That’s STILL a concern and the alcohol gels are not much better. Read any label and you’ll see that they try to put “softeners” in them, but they’re mainly alcohol.
It was when a hand wash station was found to have contaminated antibi soap that the real questions began. Bacteria was growing IN the antibi soap. It was contaminated DURING hand washing and topping off of the dispenser. The single use dispensers you see in hospitals were a reaction to the phenomenon.
The other concern in household use was resistance and overuse. You get some of your immunity from bacteria by actually ingesting some bugs as you grow. Eliminating ALL bacteria in the home may not be as advantageous as once thought. There is ongoing research into whether antibi soaps are contributing to resistance.