[aruanan]

What Commoner is doing (and this is typical) is to say that there are unknowns with X which could cause horrible problems and that until we know what they are and that X can be proven to be safe we should tightly control X (according to his definitions of "safe" and "control"). Constructing a possible boogie-man and then portarying himself and his program (whatever that happens to be) as the means of keeping people safe from the (as-yet-unproven) dangers of the boogie-man (or even that he exists) is entirely self-serving. To point this out is not to "attack the man rather than to answer his questions". There are many things in common use which are definitely not safe, which are actually dangerous, but which are indispensable in daily life. To say that someone must answer his concerns when his concerns are of a nature that they are inherently unanswerable (or unreasonable) is itself unreasonable. That's awfully close to "Can you prove that you're not a witch? Ah ha. You refuse to answer this reasonable question. Only someone with something to hide, such as his being a witch, would refuse to furnish proof.Your silence just shows that my question was reasonable from the outset."

[TomB]

Bump for later reading and comment.

(it's times like these that I regret sleeping through most of my genetics and cell bio classes)

[tpaine]

"What Commoner is doing (and this is typical) is to say that there are unknowns with X which could cause horrible problems and that until we know what they are and that X can be proven to be safe we should tightly control X (according to his definitions of "safe" and "control"). Constructing a possible boogie-man and then portarying himself and his program (whatever that happens to be) as the means of keeping people safe from the (as-yet-unproven) dangers of the boogie-man (or even that he exists) is entirely self-serving."

-------------------------------------

Very well said. -- Describes todays prohibitionist mentality & the tactics of the authoritarian left and right to a 'T'.

Both sides of the political spectrum are advocating more government control, -- using these methods. --- And our free republic is dying.

[Phaedrus]

What Commoner is doing . . .

Well, thanks for the guidance but please recall that I'm the one who posted the article and gave it emphasis by bolding. I'm quite beyond needing explanations.