alt.energy.homepower

"no spam" wrote in message
news: $ @ ...
> I'm talking about an individual doing something that has very, very small
> odds of causing harm to anyone other than himself.

You seem to have missed the below part:

>> Allow me to play the devil's advocate: Many of our actions have externalities
>> that can impact others, or at least impact society as a whole. When a person
>> does something stupid and dangerous such as driving a motorcycle without a
>> helmet and then ends up as a long-term zombie taking a bed in a medical
>> facility, it is our society (not the idiot) who ends up paying the bill.
>> Even in the unlikely event the zombie has sufficient insurance, he has
>> succeeded in raising premiums for the rest of us.

Vaughn